


A Face In The Crowd

by sophie_evelyn



Series: A Face In The Crowd [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, F/F, Slow Burn, Thriller
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2018-12-18 20:58:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 61,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11882700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophie_evelyn/pseuds/sophie_evelyn
Summary: People watching was one of Regina's favourite past times but she never once suspected that someone could be watching her. They watched her getting up in the morning, they watched her at work, they even watched her when she was sleeping. When she finds out that maybe she wasn't quite as alone as she thought she was, she turns to the police to help her out and one detective, in particular, gets a little too involved with her case. AU SQ.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So I decided after reading one too many thrillers that I'd give the genre a go myself and what better excuse than to write a new SQ fic? 
> 
> This is completely AU and set in London so there might be a bit of British slang here and there. 
> 
> Thanks for reading, let me know what you think :)

Tuesday 1st November.

Regina Mills rested her chin on the palm of her hand as her eyes wandered from the empty word document in front of her and settled on the daily bustle of the people outside of the window. She hovered her hand over her now lukewarm cup of coffee and lazily watched as businessmen dressed in suits and carrying briefcases scurried past the window, all of whom seemed to be in a hurry and appeared to be entirely too stressed out for this time in the morning.

People watching was one of the many tactics she used to try and draw inspiration. Being a free-lance writer was great for the majority of the time but when she had three strict deadlines all of which being for the end of the day then that, that wasn’t so great.

Her daydream was suddenly shattered by the abrupt opening of the door as a clumsy blonde bustled through the doorway with her phone in one hand and a pile of manila folders in the other. Regina gave her a small glare for ruining her concentration on the outside world and watched her as she made her way to the counter at the back of the café. Dolly’s had always been her café of choice, it was never as busy as the mainstream coffee shops and it always offered the most divine selection of cupcakes which she, of course, only allowed herself to have once a week when all of her projects had been completed.

“Thanks.” She heard the blonde woman call out as she dumped her handful of folders onto the empty table beside her and poured an excessive amount of sugar into her takeaway coffee cup.  Regina couldn’t help but glance over at the folders that were now scattered and left half open on the table top. She couldn’t make out many of the words but the few words that she could see had words typed across them such as ‘blunt force trauma’ and ‘evidence inconclusive’. An eyebrow was raised as she mentally narrowed down this woman’s job to be in one of either the legal sector or the police sector. She gave the blonde a once over: scuffed boots, faded denim jeans, and a red leather jacket; she certainly wasn’t a lawyer.

“Shit.” She heard the woman mutter under her breath as a pile of sugar now resided on the table beside the steaming coffee cup. A small grin hesitated over her lips as she watched the woman, who she presumed to be a detective, brush the sugar into her palm and toss it into her coffee cup. She certainly must have a sweet tooth. The blonde then stuffed her phone into the back pocket of her jeans, scooped up her folders and grabbed her coffee cup before jogging out of the door.

Regina looked up at the softly ticking black clock residing on the wall which read 9:05. She presumed the detective started work at 9 and she also presumed that she was stationed at Kensington which was about a ten-minute walk from here. Time management was obviously something that she wasn’t the best at. She chuckled to herself; this woman would make a perfect character for a novel. She could picture it now, ‘The many adventures of a disaster-prone detective solving the heinous mysteries of London town’.

She took a gulp of her coffee which was shortly followed by a wince as she realized just how cold she had let her drink get. With a sigh and the gentle closing of her laptop, she stood up from the stool that she had been sitting on for the past hour and decided that the only thing that would bring about any type of inspiration would be a change of scenery. She packed away her laptop and waved to the barista behind the counter; next stop: the library.

_A pair of eyes continued to follow her as she stood up; the same pair of eyes that had been observing her as she woke up that morning, had gotten dressed in that grey pantsuit that she insisted on wearing even though she never went to the office on a Tuesday and those very same eyes that had been watching every sip of coffee that she had just taken._

_They stood up, making sure to leave a sufficient amount of space between her and them; they were a professional after all and didn’t have any plans on getting caught. They followed her out of the small coffee shop which had become a familiar haunt to them both and they shivered as they were met with the bitingly cold autumn air. They wrapped their arms around themselves and found a crowd of people to blend into, their eyes never leaving her as they followed behind. She never turned around; she never checked over her shoulder, she was used to the congested city and the busy hordes that it always attracted. This made their job so much easier, she never suspected anything and even if she did turn around all she would see would be another face in the crowd._


	2. Crimes and Rhymes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I just wanted to clear up the police ranks as they're mentioned in this chapter. I think these are the only ones that I'll be using in the fic. The highest rank being DCI.
> 
> DCI = Detective Chief Inspector  
> DI = Detective Inspector  
> DS = Detective Sergeant  
> PC/PO = Police Constable/Officer
> 
> Thanks again for reading, I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

  
Wednesday 2nd November.

Detective Inspector Emma Swan sat smugly in her office, leaning back in her swivel chair with her feet kicked up on to her desk. Not only was she early to work for the first time in about six months but she had also finished all of her paperwork which again was something that rarely ever happened. She had ranked up to Detective Inspector almost a year ago and she was finally getting used to the increased workload, late nights and having to be in charge of a number of colleagues. When she started out as a police officer all those years ago she never once thought that she could one day make DI yet here she was, she even had the badge and credentials to prove it.

"Um… Has hell actually frozen over?" Detective Sergeant David Nolan called out to her as he entered the office. He kept his eyes glued to the rare sighting of the DI being alone in the office at such an early time, he loved Emma dearly but even she would be the first to admit that she wasn’t a morning person.

Emma just widened her grin in response and picked up a pen from the desk and began twiddling it between her fingers. David was one of Emma's closest friends; they had met at the academy and had graduated together. Emma had even been a bridesmaid at his wedding, much to her disgust as it meant that she had to wear a dress; a pink one at that.

“I’m serious. Is everything alright?” David asked again, this complete change in character had left him confused, it wasn’t unusual for Emma to be the last out of the office in the evenings but being first in, that was really something.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't it be?" Emma replied, knowing where this conversation was going.

"You're early. You're never early. There's more chance of DCI Gold having a day off than you being early." He chuckled before reaching his own desk and flicking through the pile of paperwork which sat there.

Emma abruptly dragged her feet from the desk and planted them on the floor, straightening her posture and placing the pen back onto the desktop. "Well, things are about to change around here.” She said defiantly, a slight air of superiority threatening to make itself known. “Because not only am I early but I have also finished all of my paperwork and have chased up all of my pending toxicology results." She tried not to brag but really, where was the fun in that? "I'm thinking of reopening some cold cases now, what do you think?"

David raised an eyebrow in her direction; okay, crime in their area was decreasing since their work load was being shared with the newly expanded station in nearby Notting Hill but crime was still very much happening. "Don't you think we should focus on the already open cases before starting on the old ones?"

Emma shrugged a little dishearteningly. "Yeah but the old cases still haven't been solved, the longer we put them off then the harder it's gonna be to solve them."

David sighed. "Hey, remember what they told us at the Academy, Em. We can't solve every single case."

Emma smiled sadly, one of the reasons that she became a police officer was to help people and she hated the idea of a crime never being solved. "Yeah, I know." She leaned back into her chair, as cops they were told to not take everything personally, they were supposed to do everything that they could to help but to never get too involved; Emma, however, had never been too good at doing that. She couldn’t help but put her heart and soul into every case and when things didn’t work out in her favor she often did take it to heart. Her selflessness and need to help others was one of her greatest downfalls and more often than not it got her into trouble with her superiors, especially now that she was a DI; she had to try even harder to not get too involved.

“Alright, Serge? David?” DS Ruby Lucas sang as she breezed into the office carrying a bag of donuts and a cardboard tray holding a number of coffee cups. Ruby loved playing up to the role of a stereotypical cop, it was part of her charm, Emma had decided. Ruby had transferred to their station a couple of years ago and used to be partnered with Emma quite frequently before Emma had gotten promoted.  The two of them had bonded quickly as they both had a similar way of working, nowadays Ruby and David were often partnered together and the two of them were Emma’s most reliable and successful Detective Sergeants.

 “Ruby, you legend!” David rushed over to her and helped her out by taking the bag of donuts and placing them on the center table and then helping himself to a Styrofoam cup of coffee.

Emma too, leaped up from her seat as she welcomed the introduction of both food and coffee. “Have I ever told you that you’re my favorite DS?” Emma smiled at Ruby, her hand already buried into the bag of donuts and claiming the one which had the most sugar on it.

“Well yeah, but only when I’m carrying food.” Ruby laughed and placed Emma’s coffee onto her desk which resulted in a sugary lipped grin from the blonde. “Unlike you to be here so early, Swan.”

“She’s turned over a new leaf.” David said after a gulp of hot coffee. “Or maybe she just knew you were gonna arrive with donuts.” He smirked and Emma shot him a playful glare before licking some stray sugar granules off of her fingers.

“Or maybe her new woman is an early riser?” Ruby smirked playfully and looked between both an astounded Emma and a snickering David. Emma was notorious for being married to the job; neither Ruby nor David could remember the last time that she had even been on a date let alone anything more.

“Yeah, real funny Rubes.” Emma rolled her eyes before digging into another bite of her donut, choosing to keep her eyes on the sticky oozing jam rather than on her teasing co-workers.

Ruby smiled and took a donut out of the bag. “I’m just messing with you, Em.” She took a large bite and licked her lips before looking back over in Emma’s direction.  “But you know, if there was a lady on the scene then we would welcome her with open arms."

“Yeah, you guys could double date with Mary Margaret and me.” David nodded enthusiastically.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you guys, but there is no woman on the scene. Just me.” Emma shrugged, she was used to being single, she liked her independence and she was picky as hell. She had always said to herself that her job would come first and really, she had never found anyone that she had liked enough to even consider changing that.

Ruby pouted and dusted off her palms as she finished eating. “I can set you up with someone if you want?”

“No thank you. I don’t even want to imagine who you would set me up with.” Emma rolled her eyes as she thought about the people that Ruby hangs around with, all of whom were much too wild for her.

“Hm, your loss.” Ruby shrugged and took her seat at her own desk as she saw the rest of her colleagues slowly begin to filter into the office.

* * *

The day had not started out well for Regina. She had been woken up at 6 am by her editor calling to tell her that one of her articles needed to be reworded due to a similar article running in a rival newspaper. And of course by reworded he meant rewritten and she had spent all of yesterday afternoon perfecting it. Not only that but she had once again awoken to find out that she had received some unwanted mail at some point during the previous night. There in her mailbox was the familiar blank, white envelope, left open as it always was, containing a letter with some kind of abusive message typed onto it.

She got these letters quite frequently and she never really paid them any attention. When she had worked at her previous job as a magazine editor she had quite often received petty hate mail from readers who had a differing opinion to her or from ex-employees who still held a grudge. However, she had been out of that sector for quite some time now and yet here she was, still receiving anonymous mail. These letters that she had been receiving lately though were a lot more direct than the hate mail she used to receive. These letters weren't about a particular topic that she had written about or a viewpoint that she held. These letters were threatening and personal and these letters were beginning to make her feel more and more uncomfortable.

She hesitated before she opened the latest letter; they were just words, she reminded herself before taking a seat at her kitchen table and removing the letter from the envelope. This one read:

_'Summer is over and winter is here,_  
_Rain and snow and storms are in store,_  
_So wrap up warm and try not to fear_  
_but never forget to lock your door.'_

Regina froze as she finished reading it and placed it down on the table, her eyes averting instantly to the direction of the front door and then the back door. Was she being foolish? Or did she really need to start worrying about these ‘harmless’ letters?

She stood up and rushed to the front door, it was locked. She sighed with relief before checking the back door which too, was locked. She leaned her back on the locked door, her heart beat had become noticeably faster and she was more than a little fed up of having to read these letters. She thought back to the one she received only a couple of days ago, it had also been written in a rhyme and she had no idea why. Maybe the sender was a poet or had a strange love for childish nursery rhymes. And these rhymes were perhaps why she never took them too seriously. The previous letter had read:

_'Today I saw you,_  
_A vision in blue,_  
_What would you do,_  
_If you saw me too?'_

Unlike the others, she had received this when she had returned home from an unusually long day at the office. This one had also caused her to act irrationally. She locked her doors and turned off all of her lights, choosing to spend the rest of the evening hidden away in her bedroom and contemplating what the letter had meant. Had the sender actually seen her that day or were they bluffing? How did they know she was wearing blue if they hadn’t have seen her though? Could it just have been a guess? After receiving that letter she was certain that she was going to report them to the police but she never did. She was too scared to leave the house that night and by the time morning had arrived, her sense of pride had already gotten the best of her.

She needed this to stop now though, she wasn’t going to live in fear because of some poison pen letters. She no longer found them even remotely amusing, they were disturbing and she wanted to find out who the sad idiot was that spent their spare time making up juvenile poetry and sending it to her anonymously.

And that is exactly how she ended up at Kensington police station instead of at her beloved coffee shop at 9 am that morning.

"Excuse me?" She exclaimed as she marched up to the front desk. The police station was relatively empty apart from a drunken man sprawled out across a number of chairs in the waiting room and an old woman trying to figure out how to work the coffee machine. She ignored them both, she was still a little embarrassed to be reporting this crime and she wanted to get out of there as soon as she possibly could.

A petite brunette looked up from the computer that she was typing on. Warm hazel eyes greeted her accompanied with a friendly smile. “How can I help you?”

Regina paused for a second, not knowing exactly how to word her situation. Once again she felt slightly stupid for reporting a letter, still, it was too late to have second thoughts now and she really did need to get this issue sorted. “My name is Regina Mills and I’ve been receiving some unwanted mail.”

The woman behind the desk, Mary Margaret, according to her name badge raised her eyebrows slightly, her smile never faltering. “You should maybe take that up with the post office, I’m sure they’ll be able to help you with that.”

Regina took a deep breath before speaking, her short fuse already beginning to falter. “No, I mean…“ She paused once again, thinking about how best to explain her dilemma to this woman who she had already taken a disliking to. “I am receiving threatening letters in the post from an anonymous sender. I am being harassed.” She cringed at using that word but it was the truth and maybe in using it she would be able to successfully get her point across.

“I see.” Mary Margaret’s smile dropped somewhat and a look of sympathy played on her face. “Do you have any of the letters with you today?”

Regina’s eyes wandered to that of the wall as soon as she saw the look of sympathy aimed towards her. “Hold on.” She rummaged in her bag for a second before pulling out the envelope that she received today, the letter tucked neatly inside it and placed it on to the desk which separated the two of them.

Mary Margaret hesitantly took the envelope, looking at it suspiciously as if a knife or something would just pop out of it. She read the letter with an ever present frown on her face. “I see.” She responded and carefully put the letter back into the envelope.

“Would it be possible to talk to anyone more senior?” Regina asked, her patience completely gone at this point.

Mary Margaret pushed the envelope back over to Regina who claimed it and put it back into her oversized handbag. “Yes, yes certainly. Take a seat in the waiting area and I’ll get someone to see to you right away.” She gestured to the seats in front of her and picked up the telephone on her desk as soon as Regina had turned her back to her.

And so Regina waited in that dingy waiting room, as far away from the drunken sleeping man as she could possibly get. She kept her eyes on the front desk, waiting for any sign of activity or any communication from Mary Margaret whose own eyes never left the computer that she was typing on. She tapped her foot impatiently as the smell of cheap coffee wafted over to her; each minute she spent waiting felt like an eternity and she hadn’t even filed an official inquiry yet. She sighed softly; it was going to be a long day.


	3. All Questions, No Answers

After what seemed like forever, two plain clothed detectives walked through the door to the left of the waiting room and headed towards the front desk. Regina shifted in her seat uncomfortably; the plastic chair beneath her was hardly the most desirable of objects to be seated on. She watched as Mary Margaret averted her eyes in her direction and the two detectives turned their heads to face her for a split second before turning back to the receptionist and exchanging words that she couldn’t quite make out from where she was sitting.

Within mere seconds after that exchange, the two detectives began walking towards her. “Ms. Mills?” The male detective asked to which she responded with a nod and stood up, extending her hand in his direction which he shook firmly. “I’m DS David Nolan and this is DS Ruby Lucas.” He said with a non-threatening smile and motioned towards the tall brunette beside him who outstretched her own hand to meet with Regina’s.

“Hi. If you follow us we’ll take your statement.” DS Lucas said and led the way out of the waiting room.

She was escorted into a much smaller room, with the only decoration being that of a wooden table in the center surrounded by a number of chairs. Regina took her seat on one side of the table, this chair was much more comfortable than the one in the waiting room which she was thankful for because she had a feeling that she might be in here for quite some time.

The detectives took seats across the table from her and were silent for a moment as they opened their folders and poised their pens ready to take notes. Ruby cleared her throat before looking up from her papers and meeting eyes with Regina. "Okay, so we hear that you've come in today to report some anonymous letters. Is that correct?"

Regina nodded. "Yes."

David scribbled something down quickly on the form in front of him. "Would we be able to take a look at these letters?"

"I have one here." Regina fussed inside her purse once again which was sitting on the empty chair beside her and pulled out the letter, handing it over to David.

He carefully opened the envelope and placed the letter between himself and Ruby as they both read the contents of it. Regina watched them, she was feeling embarrassed but she didn’t know why; it wasn’t as if she wrote this note. She tried to read their faces as they read it but they gave nothing away apart from a very slight raise of the brow from Ruby which would have gone unnoticed if she hadn’t been scrutinizing the detectives so harshly.

“Would we be able to keep this as evidence?” David asked, his eyes now set on the brunette across from him. “We’d like to run some tests on it and see if we can get any idea of who the sender is.”

“Of course,” Regina replied and rested her hands on the cool table surface as Ruby pulled out an evidence bag from seemingly thin air and placed the letter inside of it.

“When did you receive this letter?” Ruby asked as she tucked the evidence bag containing the letter and the envelope away under her pile of papers.

“I found it in my mail box at around six in the morning.” Regina paused for thought, her fingers fiddling with the white gold ring around her index finger. “I don’t know exactly when it was placed in there.”

The detectives nodded in sync and again scribbled something down on their forms in front of them. “And you said before that you have received others, is that right?” David asked; one eye on his paperwork and one glancing up at Regina.

“That is correct.” Regina responded, her eyes had fallen to rest on the ring that was gifted to her from her father that she now couldn’t stop playing with.

“Were those letters similar to this one? Did they also come across as threatening?” Ruby asked with a soft understanding smile, she could sense the nerves that Regina was giving off. She had worked with hundreds of victims in the past so she could recognize these signs almost instantly.

Regina nodded and rested her palms flat on the table seeing that Ruby and now David had both started to watch her.  “Yes. They were all written the same way. Part rhyme; part threat.” Regina nibbled on her bottom lip, a habit which her mother always used to scorn her for.

“How many did you receive roughly?” David asked her, his voice noticeably softer than it had been previously.

Regina stopped with her nibbling and concentrated for a moment, mentally counting how many it was that she had. “Around twenty, maybe thirty. I’m not entirely sure.”

Ruby’s brow rose more noticeably this time. “How come you never reported them before?” She asked, her curiosity getting the better of her as David gave her a look.

Regina shrugged. “I never really took them seriously. I mean, would you? They’re basically nursery rhymes.”

Ruby smiled, she too probably wouldn’t have taken them too seriously. “What made you change your mind?”

“Something about the most recent ones I received. They were more chilling; it felt like maybe they were watching me.” Regina’s voice was quiet and she once again began to twirl her ring around her finger.

“Do you still have all of these letters?” David asked, his paperwork containing a lot more writing than Ruby’s which only had a few scribbles on it.

She nodded. “I have most of them somewhere at home, yes.”

“We may have to collect these for further evidence. When was it that you received the first one?”

“That’s fine. And I suppose it was around Christmas, the one just gone so almost a year ago.”  

Ruby leaned forward in her chair as if she were about to tell Regina a secret. “Have you seen anyone that you may suspect is following you?” She asked, her voice a little too condescending for Regina’s liking.

“No. I’m not being followed, Detective. I would be aware if that were the case.” Regina said firmly, her posture becoming straighter to try and regain some of her stature which she had previously maintained.

Ruby leaned back in her seat and nodded. “Okay, we have to ask as a precaution.” She paused and looked over at David before continuing. “Do you have any enemies or anyone who holds any grudges?”

Regina shook her head, in the past she would’ve been able to have thought of a number of disgruntled ex-employees but now, now she couldn’t think of anyone who would dislike her so much as to send her these letters. “No, I work independently now.  I have no idea who would want to send me this hate mail.”

“You say you work independently, what is it you do?”

“I’m a free-lance writer. I write articles for various magazines and newspapers when they want me to. I previously worked as Editor-in-chief at PrimaDonna magazine before it ceased publication.”

“I remember that magazine, my mum used to read it on the school run.” Ruby chimed which granted her a glare from both David and Regina. “Sorry, I mean that’s been out of publication for a couple of years now. Have you been a free-lancer ever since?”

“I have.” Regina replied and chose to focus on David now instead of Ruby.

“Would you be able to write down your current clients details for us and as many of your past ones as you can remember?” David asked and pulled out a blank piece of paper from his own wad of paperwork and slid it across the table to Regina. Ruby handed her pen over with a smile before Regina had the chance to answer.

“We’ll leave you for a few minutes to think.” Ruby replied and she and David both left the room. Regina nodded and pulled out her cell phone to find as many clients past and present that she could in her contacts list.

“Well, what do you think?” Ruby asked once the door to the room was firmly closed.

David leaned on the wall and looked at his partner. “I think we need to get our hands on the rest of these letters. It seems Ms. Mills is being harassed for whatever reason.”

Ruby nodded. “I agree, we should let the DI know as soon as we’ve finished here.”

“Hopefully this list will give us some clues to who the mystery author is.” David said as Ruby pulled out a chocolate bar from her pocket and broke off half and gave it to him.

“You do know that PrimaDonna magazine was pretty controversial back in the day right?” She asked, popping a square of chocolate into her mouth.

“Surely no one would still hold a grudge over anything that she wrote in that magazine though? You said it’s been out of publication for years now. She’s only been getting these letters recently.” He puzzled and took a bite of his chocolate portion.

“Who knows? People are weird, does seem unlikely though.” She agreed and began to wonder just who it could possibly be, these cases always seem to end up being the most unlikely person so guessing proved to be almost impossible.

Ten minutes had passed before David and Ruby returned to the interview room and found Regina waiting for them with a long list of names and phone numbers written on the sheet of paper in front of her. “Do you need any more time?” David asked as he took his seat in the same chair that he was seated in before.

“No, these are all of the names I have in my contact list.” Regina replied, placing the pen down neatly on top of the list.

“That’s great, this will be a real help into the investigation.” Ruby smiled and took the list and pen from Regina and scanned over it quickly.

“Right, so we’re going to check all of the people on your list and look into their backgrounds. We’ll also be sending off the letter to be checked by forensics. Can we just ask to take your fingerprints at reception just to eliminate you from the process? If you stop by and see Mary Margaret on the way out she’ll get that all sorted for you.” David smiled, his eyes brightening a little just at the mention of his wife’s name.  “After that’s finished we’ll be able to follow up with you tomorrow. Will you be at home tomorrow morning?”

Regina nodded, making a mental note to buy coffee on the way home as it seemed she’d be missing out on her morning trip to Dolly’s yet again. “I can be if that’s necessary.”

“That would be great as we’d like to collect the rest of the letters to also send off to our specialists.” Ruby said and made her way to the door which prompted both David and Regina to stand.

“Thank you, Detectives. I’ll make sure that I gather them all together tonight.”

“Perfect. Okay, thank you for coming in today, Ms. Mills. We’ll walk you out to reception where Mary Margaret will be waiting for you.”

After leaving Regina at reception, Ruby and David returned to the shared office where they found Emma with her head buried in an old case file. “Serge, we got a case.” David stated loudly enough for Emma to drop her file and win over her attention instantly.

“Fill me in.” She glanced between Ruby and David enthusiastically; she lived for the feeling of a new case. Each one filled her with a strange adrenaline and determination.

It didn’t take long for the detectives to get Emma up to speed on the case, she, as usual, demanded to be as hands on as she possibly could. She always preferred to be out in the field, rather than in the office behind a computer screen. She read over the letter that Ruby had handed her once again. “This bastard certainly sees themselves as some kinda poet, huh?”  She huffed and placed the evidence on to her desk. “Do you have the others?”

“No, Ms. Mills only brought in the one.” David replied which caused Emma to respond with an eye roll.

“I’ll go around to hers and collect them tomorrow when I fill her in with what’s happening.”

“That’s alright, Serge. We don’t mind doing that.”

Emma smiled at both her detectives; they really were a great team. “Thanks but really, it’s fine Rubes. I’d rather go around chasing after evidence than stuck in here typing up reports. Besides I have a weird feeling about this case.”

Ruby shrugged and leaned back on Emma’s desk. “Fine by me, this list of clients is probably gonna take us until next week to check anyway.”

David groaned at the thought, background checking was never fun. “Good point, we should start that now. I take the top half, you take the bottom?” He asked Ruby who was already smirking at the joke that he knew that she was going to make.

“God, David. You know I always like to top.” She laughed at her joke and both David and Emma chuckled with her, a sense of humor was sometimes one of the most valuable traits that a detective could possess. “You can take the bottoms.” She concluded and pulled herself off Emma’s desk and made her way over to her own desk with David following her closely behind.

Once David and Ruby had assigned themselves to their current roles, Emma was left to send the one letter that she did have in her possession away to the forensics team. She didn’t hold much hope in them coming back with anything though. From what she had heard this was nowhere near to the first note that the sender had sent and therefore by now, they would know what they are doing and leave little to no evidence on the letter. The note was typed and not hand written which already eliminated any trace to their handwriting and practically everybody had access to a computer now so that provided very little help also. Still, their forensics team was one of the best in the country and if there were anything to find then they were sure to find it.

* * *

  _Fuck.” They cursed under their breath as they watched in frustration as Regina sauntered out of the police station. She was never supposed to go to the police; they never even expected that she would go to the police. This seemed to be extremely out of character for Regina Mills. They thought she would just drive herself crazy until she was a paranoid mess. Now the police had gotten involved it meant that their end game would be much more complicated. They would still succeed though; they had battled harder obstacles than this in the past._

_They followed her as she entered the underground station allowing a small sized crowd to get ahead of them so they could keep themselves covered. They watched as she walked into a carriage making sure that they got in the carriage adjacent to hers. She got off at her usual stop, she must have chosen to head straight home which was easier for them as it meant they no longer had to risk being out in the open. They continued watching as she stopped off at the corner shop and bought a small carrier bag worth of shopping. They watched as she fumbled for her door keys and stepped inside that pretty white house of hers. She wasn’t going to get away with going to the police; they were going to teach her the lesson that snitches may indeed get stitches…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SQ interactions next chapter, I promise!


	4. Conversations over Coffee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Thursday 3rd November.

It was 2:10 in the afternoon and Regina was angry. She had purposely kept her morning free meaning that she had to push back various deadlines, suffer from drinking instant coffee and put up with morning television. She tutted once again at the utter audacity of those detectives, clearly, they had no idea just how busy she was. She was going to give them another hour before storming down to that police station herself and throwing those letters at them.

She took a long deep breath to try and soothe her anger. ‘They’re helping me.’ She remembered and tried to focus on that fact rather than the one being that they clearly had no idea how to tell the time. She wasn’t used to waiting around on somebody; she was used to things being on her terms. After all, in her previous job if someone was late for a meeting with her then they would be fired; it was as simple as that. This cutthroat behavior was what got her such a reputation within the journalism world, people knew not to mess her around. She had high standards and if those standards weren’t met then she would simply refuse to work with such ignoramuses. This was not work though, it was real life and she needed to remind herself of that.

She switched off the television which was becoming more of a background noise to her and walked over to the dining room table where she had placed, in an immaculate pile, the number of letters which she had received. It had taken her a while to find them all, some she had stuffed in drawers, others in her bureau and the most recent ones had been collecting dust atop of her fireplace. They were all there though and she had made sure that she had placed them all in chronological order, from what she could remember anyway.

She perched herself on one of the dining room chairs, her heels were beginning to rub at her ankles and her dress was beginning to feel a little too restrictive. She wasn’t quite sure why she felt the need to dress so nicely but she wanted to make sure that she was giving off a good impression; the last thing she wanted was for anyone to think that she was attention seeking or making any of this up. There was also that continuous sense of pride that followed her around like a bad smell; it was a good thing – her mother had once said; she, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure.

* * *

“Crap, crap, crap.” DI Emma Swan mumbled under her breath as she turned the corner into another street which wasn’t the one she was looking for. She had typed the address perfectly into her GPS yet here she was participating in what could only be described as a wild goose chase. ‘You can walk it; it’s not far from here.’ David had told her, she should’ve known not to have believed that. She checked her phone once again and watched impatiently as the blue dot on the GPS screen moved around in circles. This was pointless; she was going to have to call David.

She was supposed to be at Ms. Mills’ house hours ago but she had forgotten that she was supposed to appear in court at nine and that hearing over ran by quite some time. By the time she had gotten out of there it was already after midday and she needed to return to the office before she even headed off to speak to Regina. “Em, she lives down Queen Street not Queen’s Avenue.” David laughed down the phone at her as she could only roll her eyes and chastise herself in response.

“Right. Gotcha, cheers Dave. See ya later.” Emma placed her phone securely in her pocket and turned around on her heel; heading for the road named ‘Queen Street’ which she had already been down twice already. She knew she should’ve paid more attention when she got given the address but how was she to know that this area had more than one road with ‘Queen’ in its name?

“108. 108.” Emma muttered as she jogged down the street, reading the numbers on the houses as she passed them. She stopped outside a particularly large white building and her eyes widened as she double checked the number of the house, this was definitely the right one. She had assumed Ms. Mills was wealthy given that she lived in the prestigious Holland Park area but she wasn’t expecting her to be _this_ wealthy. She shrugged her shoulders as she walked up the driveway; it really wasn’t her place to judge.

Once she had reached the looming red door, she rang the doorbell and waited. Her eyes wandered to the garden which looked perfect, she must have a gardener, she presumed. She reached for her badge as soon as the door was opened and held it in front of her, a welcoming and genuine smile plastered on her face before she even saw the person behind the door. “DI Emma Swan...” She spoke confidently before her voice hitched in the back of her throat. Standing in front of her was possibly the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She could only stare with her mouth half agape from where she had stopped speaking mid-sentence.

“You’re late.” Regina said as she looked at Emma with a grin, remembering her straight away from the incident at Dolly’s a few days ago. “And where are Detectives Nolan and Lucas? I was told they would be visiting.” She asked, the smile being unable to leave her face as she took in the appearance of a flabbergasted blonde detective standing on her front porch.

“Um, they are working on your case from the office.” Emma said, her mouth remaining unbelievably dry but she was thankful that she had managed to find her voice at least.

“I suppose you should come in then.” Regina held open the door to Emma and allowed her to walk inside. She was considerably better dressed this time; she wore a black pant suit with an open collared white blouse underneath, her blonde hair tied back neatly in a high ponytail.  “DI Swan, was it?” 

“Yes.” Emma replied but was once again drawn speechless, this time her lack of voice was due to the interior of the house. She could only describe it as like something from a movie. It was immaculate. A spacious dining room with pristine white walls and polished wood floorboards all sitting perfectly beneath a crystal chandelier. “This is a nice house, you got here.” She said, the words themselves coming out as more of a whisper as she continued to marvel over the surreal room.

Regina gently closed the door and eyed Emma suspiciously as she looked dumbfoundedly around her dining room. “Thank you, Detective.” She said and walked over to the table where the letters were sitting, she wanted to get this all over and done with as quickly as possible so she could move on with her usual day to day life. “I believe you came here for these.” She handed Emma the small pile of mostly A4 sheets of paper.

“Oh, yes.” Emma took the letters that were basically being thrust into her hands. She glanced over them quickly, a number of threatening words jumping out at her. “Are these all of the letters that you have received?”

“Yes. And in the order that I received them in.” Regina answered, her posture beginning to shrink the more that Emma read. That familiar feeling of humiliation that she felt whenever she was feeling vulnerable was becoming more and more evident. She placed her hand on the table to support herself and tried to remain as cool as she possibly could, hoping that the detective wouldn’t pick up on her change in stance.

Emma pulled out an evidence bag from her back pocket and placed the numerous sheets of paper inside it before setting the bag back on the table. “I’ll have to take these to the station for examination, is that okay?" She asked, her eyes glancing up nervously from the table to the brunette who was looking awfully bleak all of a sudden. “Are you okay?” She asked her and instinctively moved closer to the other woman and rested her hand on Regina’s forearm.

There was a beat before Regina replied, her whole body tensing up from the intrusion on her arm. “I’m fine, Detective and you’re welcome to do whatever you want with those letters.” She shifted uncomfortably, the warmth radiating from Emma’s hand still very much present on her own paling skin.

“You don’t look so fine.” She said, her arm moving itself to wrap around Regina’s waist and gripping onto her tightly. She had seen many people faint before and there was no way she was going to let the same happen to Regina, no matter how much she protested.

“Detective.” Regina breathed out and couldn’t help but find herself un-tensing and allowing herself to rest slightly on Emma’s side.  “I am okay; there is no need to manhandle me.” She added but made no attempt to move whatsoever and instead let Emma support her weight.

Emma’s grip only tightened when she had felt Regina get closer to her. “We should sit you down.” She said, glancing down at the stiff, regal looking dining room chairs and quickly deciding that the couch would be the better option. “Which way is your living room?”

“Through there.” Regina pointed haphazardly towards a set of tall double doors and before she knew it Emma was already walking her through them.

Emma slowly loosened her grip on Regina and allowed her to get comfortable on the couch before joining her on it, being sure to leave a sufficient amount of space between them. There was no doubt in her mind that she was extremely attracted to the brunette but she didn’t want any of her actions to come across as inappropriate, Regina was a victim first and foremost. “Do you want me to get you a glass of water?”

“No, it’s fine. Really.” Regina took a couple of deep breaths before seeming to recover from her faint spell and sitting up in a more poised position. “I’m sorry about that. I suppose the stress of this situation is starting to get to me after all.”

Emma smiled softly at her. “It’s okay to be scared, Regina. Can I call you Regina?”

“Well, that is my name, Detective.” 

“Right. You can call me Emma, by the way.” Emma kept her eyes on Regina; the color seemed to be returning to her and there was a slight glint in her brown eyes which she couldn’t seem to stop looking at. She cleared her throat and tried to keep her ‘work head’ on. “As I was saying, it’s okay to be scared. You don’t have to pretend that you’re not. I’m a professional, it’s my job to help you and I will do everything that I can to get to the bottom of this.”

“Thank you, Emma.” Regina smiled back in return, feeling a comfort from her words.  “I just…” She took a short pause, not knowing whether to continue speaking or not but Emma was already staring at her, willing her to carry on and maybe, just maybe this woman wasn’t going to judge her if she did share her true feelings. “I suppose I always thought that whoever sent these was just some bored child but it all seems so much more real and frightening now that you, the police I mean, are involved.”

Emma reached her hand over to rest on Regina’s, why could she not stop touching her? She waited for a split second in case Regina tensed up again but she didn’t this time so she left her hand there and squeezed her palm gently to which Regina responded with a small squeeze of her own. “That’s often the case with most things but I’ll be here for you the whole way. This case is my priority, you’re in safe hands.”

Regina breathed deeply, she had only just met Emma but she was already starting to believe every word that she was saying. She wondered if Emma said this to everyone, she wondered if she was as genuine as she was making out. She released her hand from the blonde like Emma had just said, this was her job, and she would be imprudent to believe that Emma was doing anything other than what her job provided her to do. “Thank you. Were the contacts I provided any use to you?” She asked, not wanting to talk about her fears any longer and preferring to see if the police had gotten any closer to finding the culprit.

Emma pulled her hand back and placed it into her lap sheepishly, trying not to take the rejection personally. “Detectives Lucas and Nolan are still looking into them; there are a couple of leads but nothing too concrete just yet. I’m really hoping that some of these letters will give us something though.” She worried her bottom lip between her teeth, Ruby and David had found very little so far and she only hoped that the last few names they were looking into would lead them somewhere.

“Let’s hope so.” Regina replied, her eyes sweeping away from Emma and focusing on a robin sitting on her apple tree outside of the window.

There was a brief silence in the room as Regina daydreamed and Emma worried about the case and Regina’s safety while the case was building up. She hadn’t asked but it looked like Regina lived alone in this huge house, she hadn’t mentioned a spouse or a significant other in her initial report either which gave Emma, even more of a reason to worry about the safety of the woman sitting inches away from her. “Do you mind if I take a look around the house? I would like to check up on your security, test your locks and such. It shouldn’t take too long.”

Regina snapped out of her reverie and looked back at Emma who had pulled her phone out of her pocket and was loading up an app that Regina wasn’t familiar with. She shrugged her shoulders, she would rather not have a virtual stranger rooting around her house but she could hardly say no. “If you must. I’ll make us some coffee.”

“Great.” Emma replied a little too enthusiastically and leaped up from the sofa with her phone pointed in front of her. “I’ll start upstairs.” She looked at Regina who nodded her approval and then she made her way to the marble staircase located just the other side of the dining room.

While Emma was checking God knows what inside and outside of her house, Regina had taken up residence in the kitchen. She had brewed some coffee, the good stuff and not the cheap stuff that she usually drinks with the sole purpose being for it to wake her up. She had no idea if Emma took milk but she had already left a bowl of sugar on the table knowing that she was fond of it.

She opened the fridge to get some milk out just in case, noticing just how little food she had in the house. She closed the refrigerator door and was faced with a rather too close blonde with a serious expression on her face.

Regina jumped slightly at her unexpected appearance but tried to cover it up as best she could.  “Detective, I thought you would’ve known better than to sneak up on people.” She said before carrying the jug of milk over to the table and placing it in between the two cups of steaming coffee.

“You have three open windows, none of which have locks on them or even shutters.” Emma hadn’t moved nor reacted to what Regina had said. Her hand was planted firmly on her hip and she was staring the brunette down as if she was about to start a wrestling match.

“It’s a warm November; forgive me for opening a window.” Regina rolled her eyes and sat down at the kitchen table pulling one of the coffee cups closer to her.

Emma huffed a little; unsure as to why Regina didn’t appear to be concerned about her own safety especially when she had just opened up to her mere minutes ago. She assumed Regina was putting on a front, it was something she had seen victims do in the past and she hated it. It served as some sort of defense mechanism; if they acted like they didn’t care then the perp would lose interest; this technique often had the opposite effect though and Emma was going to have to try and get Regina out of this mindset, especially if this case did decide to progress. “Also your security camera out the front appears to not be working.”

The brunette frowned at her. “I’ll look into upgrading my security if that makes you feel better.”

“It would, yes.” She said and finally went to sit across the table from Regina once she saw a slight sense of worry hit her.  “I’ll get one of my officers to fit you in with some window locks. You should make sure to call your security company, I’m sure they’ll fix that front camera for you.”

Regina nodded slowly as if she wasn’t fully paying attention to what she was hearing. “I’ll put it at the top of my to do list although, as I mentioned previously, the threat has only been through these letters, I like to think that I will be perfectly safe in my own home, are you saying otherwise?”

Emma looked at Regina, waiting until she had gained her full attention; she didn’t want to scare her but she wasn’t going to downplay the situation either. In cases like these, there was often a build-up, it started with letters and then it led on to further things, things far worse and much more dangerous.  “I’m not saying that you won’t be safe, Regina. I’m saying that you should have every precaution in place just in case something was to happen.”

“I see.” She answered, dropping her gaze from Emma as soon as she had finished talking. If she had been scared before then she certainly was more so now. She tried to clear her mind, not wanting to look even weaker in front of Emma than she had before. Her eyes wandered over the table and set on the bowl of sugar, a small smile crept on her lips at that. “The sugar is over there, Detective.”

Emma furrowed her eyebrows, confused by the sudden change in the conversation. Her eyes darted between the bowl of sugar and the ever-growing smile on Regina’s face. She had no idea what was happening but it definitely eased away from the tension that their last interaction had created. “How did you know I take sugar in my coffee?”

“Just a hunch.” Regina answered and took a small sip of her drink. She watched in amusement as Emma piled in two heaped spoonfuls of sugar into her own coffee.

Emma smiled back, clearly missing whatever joke it was that kept Regina so entertained. She preferred this more relaxed side to her though and she wanted to get to know this Regina more. She blew on her coffee softly, technically it was part of her job to get to know the victims in a case, it helped to build trust and rapport, there was really no harm in wanting to get to know more about Regina Mills, was there?  “Okay, I gotta ask, how can you afford such a huge place on your own? Are you one of those secret billionaires?”

Regina snorted; chance would be a fine thing. She placed her mug on the table before answering. “I wish. This is my childhood home; my parents left it to me when they passed. I make enough from writing to provide the upkeep of it.”

“I’m sorry to hear about your parents, was it recent?” Emma asked with a sympathetic smiled etched on her face.

“My father passed away while I was studying at Oxford. It was a long time ago but I still think about him every day, he was the reason I began writing in the first place.” Regina had always been close to her father and it had torn her apart when he had died. He was a kind man, maybe too kind. Regina learned then that being kind wasn’t enough to make it in this world. She stiffened a little and Emma couldn’t miss the change in the tone of her voice as she continued. “My mother died more recently. She was in a car accident.”

Emma hesitated, part of her wanting to ask what the deal was with Regina and her mother but another part of her knowing that it wasn’t her place to. If Regina wanted to tell her then she would, it wasn’t like it had anything to do with the case after all. Instead, she stayed along the path of general conversation and pulled up something she remembered about Regina. “DS Lucas said you used to run some fancy magazine, that’s pretty impressive.”

Regina smiled proudly, PrimaDonna magazine had been her biggest success story despite having a love/hate relationship with it. If it hadn’t been for the increase in technology and the decrease in published magazines then she was certain that she would still be in that job today. “Thank you, I did. Truthfully though, I’m glad it closed when it did. I was beginning to get tired of criticising poor fashion choices.”

“I’ve never been too into fashion myself.” Emma chuckled, the only designers she could name were Adidas and Nike and she wasn’t even certain if they counted.

Emma’s light-hearted laughter made her smile, thinking about it, it had been a while since she had laughed with somebody.  She had lost contact with most of her friends, only keeping in contact with a couple of them and she rarely saw them due to their busy family lives. She wasn’t too bothered about that though, she had always liked her alone time and if she ever began to feel lonely she would simply write.

She watched Emma take a sip of her overly sweet coffee; unlike with most people she found it easy to talk to Emma and in any other circumstance she would act upon this by striking up a friendship of sorts but this entire situation was difficult and she was still unsure how many of these questions Emma genuinely wanted to know the answer to and how many were simply related to her case. “What made you want to become a police officer?” She asked her, figuring that however Emma answered would help her determine just how genuine Emma Swan was.

Emma was caught slightly off-guard; she was used to being the one asking the questions. It was very rare that victims asked her questions about herself; maybe she was overstepping her ethical boundaries here but this was all off the record and she wanted to be honest with Regina. What harm could it do to open up to her a little? She looped her fingers through the handle of the warm cup. “I didn’t have the best childhood; I got into trouble a lot. This one time I was with a group of friends and we were shoplifting from that mall in East London.  It’s huge and we did it all the time and never got caught but one time we did. I was given a caution by this police officer called Neal Cassidy, he gave me a pep talk, told me a lot of home truths and I guess I realized I could either be the criminal or catch the criminal. He told me all the different ways I could get into the police force and that’s how it all started.” She smiled before she continued. “I also really love to help people; I like to make people feel safe because that’s something I missed out on a lot growing up.”

Regina smiled warmly; she hadn’t expected such an honest answer from Emma. She wanted to ask more about Emma’s childhood and what it was like to be a police officer; she imagined Emma had a lot of interesting stories to tell. She drew her mug to her lips and took a long gulp of coffee. “Seems like you’re quite the savior.” She teased before becoming more serious. “I’m glad that you learned from your mistakes, it sounds like you became a cop for the right reasons.”

Emma nodded; she hadn’t meant to reveal so much. She rarely spoke about her past so openly; it still hurt to talk about. In fact, only a handful of people knew the real reason why she wanted to become a police officer. She swallowed a little nervously, she needed to bring this conversation back to that of a detective and a victim. “Yeah. So about that camera, you really do need to get that working again.”

Regina was glad that she had just swallowed her mouthful because if she hadn’t then she was sure that she would’ve been choking right now. Not only had she been enjoying her conversation with Emma but she was also about to ask her more about herself. This change in the conversation had completely thrown her off and she didn’t know why. She rewound her last comment in her head, surely she hadn’t offended her? 

She watched as Emma’s body language changed also, she was becoming fidgety and had begun tapping her fingers on the mug which filled the air with small clinking noises. She cleared her throat to disguise the disappointed sigh which she had given, this was DI Swan, the professional; she was foolish to believe that this woman would show any interest in her other than to solve this case. “I’ll make sure to call the company tomorrow if it’s that important to you but really, so far I’ve only gotten letters and they’re always left in my mailbox and my camera doesn’t even stretch that far.” She said somewhat coldly and regretted it instantly.

Emma tried her hardest to ignore the iciness in Regina’s voice. She stood up abruptly, startling Regina for a second time that day. “Still, you never know what could happen. I should probably be going, is there anything else I can help you with Ms. Mills?” She asked, making sure to stick to the formalities which she probably should have stuck to from the beginning.

“How about getting to the bottom of this case?” Regina sassed back and stood up, already walking Emma out of the kitchen and through to the dining room.

“I’ll do my very best.” She uttered inaudibly. Emma picked up the pile of letters as she passed the table and held them close to her chest. She waited until Regina was in front of her and holding her front door open. She looked her in the eye one more time and she saw right there the reason why she did this job. She was always told that the eyes could never lie and in Regina’s eyes, she saw fear, concern and the tiniest flicker of hope. So she swallowed her pride, forgetting everything that had happened up until this moment. She wasn’t about to let that last speckle of hope leave her.  

“Hey, here’s my card. My personal number is on there too just in case anything happens out of office hours. Call me if you need anything, okay?” She put as much emphasis as she could into her words, praying that if anything did happen then Regina would call her; the thought of Regina in this house alone and afraid terrified her. This entire case was beginning to terrify her, she didn’t know why but she had an eerie feeling about all of this; from the weird connection that she felt to Regina to the way too perfect interior of the way too perfect house. It all just seemed strange to her.

Regina said nothing at first, taking the card from Emma and reading over it once, twice, three times. She looked back at Emma, no matter if this was police protocol or not she could see that Emma was being honest with her. She held tightly onto the card and nodded. “I will call you if needs be, Emma.” She smiled as she said her name and then looked away quickly before things got weird again.

“We’ll be in touch with any developments.” Emma finalized and stepped out of the door, the cool air making her miss the warmth from inside the house as soon as she felt it. She gave Regina a smile which was returned with a nod from the brunette. The door closed behind her and she hoped, she really hoped that she hadn’t just royally fucked up this entire case.


	5. What Happens in the Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos and comments so far, it means a lot to me! I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

_They usually stayed away from the house, being in the open in a relatively closed neighborhood would usually be too risky. However, they were angry, furious at the fact that Regina went to the police. There was nothing they hated more than police and now that they were meddling in Regina’s business it meant that their plan could well be foiled. Still; emotions often won over their more rational side and so that was why they were there, crouched behind the immaculately trimmed apple tree which stood in the front garden. The branches kept them dry from most of the rain and the tree stump was big enough to keep them hidden from most angles. They were lucky that the rain was so heavy that night. It meant that the night was quiet, many choosing not to venture out in this weather and choosing to stay inside instead._

_Regina was one of those people; she was seated on her couch with a glass of red wine sitting untouched on the table beside her. Her curtains were open just enough for them to see her silhouette, she looked tense like something was playing on her mind. The police officer: that scruffy blonde who had spent much too long inside her house earlier that day. They wished they knew what it was that they had been talking about. They growled in quiet frustration at not knowing anything about that conversation, there was no space for anybody to start interfering in Regina’s life; not now. They were so close to fulfilling their plan. They crawled a little closer so that they were practically hugging the tree, they were still too far away to get a clear view but this would have to do for now. They watched as she sat back on the couch, her eyes glued to something on the television screen, what it was they would never know but still, they watched her and they waited…_

The muffled buzz from the television was the only thing that was keeping her from going completely crazy. Her thoughts had been spiralling for hours now and she once again went over the list of ‘possible suspects’ all of whom she didn’t really suspect would be petty enough to write her anonymous letters but she couldn’t be too sure; after all, people are capable of a lot of things that could surprise you. The bright lights from the screen illuminated her face every now and again and her forehead seemed to crease a little more every time that it did so.

She glanced over at the full glass of Ceretto sitting beside her, alcohol usually calmed her chattering thoughts but tonight the thought of drinking the rich liquid made her feel sick. She turned up her nose at it and continued to stare absentmindedly at the TV. She wasn’t even sure what it was that she was watching, a murder mystery of some sort, she suspected.  

Then there was Detective Swan. Emma. How ironic was it to find out that she was the one who was leading this investigation?  She stood up and began to pace around the living room, a small frown etched on her forehead. She wasn’t like how she’d imagined her to be when she first saw her in the coffee shop a few days ago. She was headstrong and protective and she seemed like she had a lot of depth to her. She was fascinating in a way that Regina couldn’t quite understand.

_They pulled the drawstrings on their hood, the black material sheltering them as best it could against the pounding raindrops which were now finding their way through the branches of the tree. They squinted as their eyes followed Regina who was walking back and forth, her hands planted evenly on each hip. She seemed stressed which pleased them. She was so vulnerable alone in that big house especially at night time when she couldn’t see who was hiding outside in the shadows._

_They smiled menacingly as their cheek grazed the rough bark of the apple tree. Regina was in the perfect state for them to have a little fun. They rummaged in their pocket for a moment before grasping a cheap burner phone. They dialed her landline number, they knew it by heart and then they watched…_

Regina jumped at the sudden intrusion of a loud vibrating ringing noise which filled her front room. She looked over at the old-fashioned black telephone which sat in the corner of the room; who could possibly be calling her at this time? She grabbed the remote from the table and switched off the television before making her way over to the ringing phone. The shrill sound only got louder with every step that she took, this phone hardly ever rang and if it did it was some salesman trying to sell her PPI. But salesmen don’t work at this time of night. She hesitated before she picked up the receiver, staring at the vintage style telephone as another piercing ring sounded out.

She took a deep breath as she wrapped her fingers around the handset and placed it to ear. “Hello?” She spoke into the receiver. There was no reply.

She cleared her throat and spoke again. “Hello?” Still, no answer. She pushed the receiver closer to her ear, feeling the cool plastic pressed up against her skin. She could hear something but she didn’t quite know what it was.

“Who is this?” She asked, her voice shaky despite the fact she was trying to remain as calm as possible. She continued to listen to that sound, her own heartbeat growing faster and beginning to become the most dominant sound that she could hear.

There was still no answer but now the noise had gotten louder. Her grip grew tighter on the phone: breathing. The noise on the other end was someone breathing. She let out a gasp and immediately slammed the phone down not wanting to hear such an unsettling sound any longer.

She walked back over to the couch, a little shaken from the call she had just received. She already knew it was the same person who had sent her the letters. But who were they and what did they want?

She sat down and rested her head in her hands wracking her brain trying to think of somebody that could hate her this much. None of this made any sense.

That familiar loud chime echoed through the room once again. Regina froze. Why were they doing this? She didn’t answer this time. She remained on the couch, her heartbeat racing and her breathing unsteady but she wasn’t going to answer that phone. She wasn’t going to play their game.

Then there was silence. She let out a deep sigh of relief but she was still on edge, should she call the police? Should she call Detective Swan? Or would they think she was overreacting? These could just be prank calls; everyone is victim to some innocent prank calls from time to time. And what would they do anyway? Yell down the phone to whoever it was on the other end?

The phone rang again. Regina stood up, anger suddenly replacing the fear that she had experienced before. She walked over to the telephone and yanked the lead clean out of the wall, the excruciating ringing sound stopping immediately. Her heart was still racing from the adrenaline but her mind was a lot calmer.

_They grunted as their phone line went dead; disappointed that this game had ended before it had really started. They had other ideas though and Regina wouldn’t be getting off so lightly. She was the one who involved other people and if that’s how she wanted to play it then they were just going to have to turn up the heat on their end._

_They tucked the phone away safely in their pocket and watched for a while longer. Regina still looked like she was jittery but they couldn’t tell for sure. If only she would open those curtains so that they could get a better view of her. They shuffled around a little, their knees aching from being in the same position for so long. They cautiously stood up, the tree being big enough to continue to hide their entire frame… Round two was about to begin…_

Regina stood by the couch, her heartbeat slowly regaining its natural pattern. She leaned her back on the leather and massaged her temples with her hand. She would have to inform Emma of these calls but it could wait until tomorrow, the last thing she wanted to do was disturb Emma’s night when she had successfully managed to stop the pestering herself. She stretched over to the glass of wine that was on her table and took a long gulp, the alcohol much more appealing to her now than it was earlier in the evening. 

She closed her eyes as the strong rich liquid traveled through her body; the effect it had on her body working as if it were some kind of magical potion. She took another long satisfying gulp which was followed by another and another and before she knew it she had finished the glass. She placed the empty crystal back onto the table and considered pouring herself another but rejected that choice almost immediately, she needed to keep a clear head for her own sanity.

A loud crashing noise coming from outside caused her to jolt upright, her eyes widening with both shock and fear. Without thinking she approached the curtains and whipped them open; the only thing staring back at her being the impending blackness of the night. Her eyes darted from left to right and she wiped off the light condensation on the window with the back of her hand. She could still see nothing, the darkness combined with the rain creating a blanket of invisibility over the outside surroundings.

She tried to focus on the sound, what could it be? She had nothing of any weight in her front garden, certainly nothing which would create such an ear-splitting sound. She thought that maybe her fence had fallen down but there was no way that could’ve happened, the wind wasn’t very strong and the fence posts had all been cemented in rather recently. Her gate? That must be it. Her gate crashing closed. But how could it have closed by itself? Was the storm outside really strong enough to slam her metal gate closed with such force? She doubted it which could only mean that there was somebody outside. She wasn’t alone.

With shaky hands, she pulled the curtains closed using a force so resilient that it almost pulled the fabric off of its hinges. As soon as the windows had been covered she could hear something colliding with the window. She didn’t know what it was, rocks? Stones? Dirt? Probably a mixture of all three but she wasn’t going to find out.

Instead, she ran to the kitchen and grabbed her cell phone which was currently on charge. She whipped it off of the charging cable and typed in her passcode as quickly as she could, fumbling on the numbers a couple of times due to the shakiness of her fingers. Once she had access to her contact list she typed in the first name that she could think of – Emma Swan.

On the third ring, a sleepy Emma picked up. “Regina? What’s wrong?” She asked, knowing that this wasn’t a social call and if she was receiving a phone call at 11.30 at night then something definitely was not right. She was sitting bolt upright in her bed, ready to leave her house if she needed to at any moment.

“Someone’s here. They’re outside.” Regina stammered; her grip bone tight on the phone held against her ear.

“What? Are you sure?” Emma asked, her shoulder pinning her phone to her ear as she pulled on a pair of jeans and then pulled a shirt out from her closet.

Regina swallowed and glanced over in the direction of her living room window which was still being throttled by debris. “I can hear them. They’re throwing things at the window, they were calling me before.”

Emma slipped her feet into a pair of trainers and grabbed her keys from the hook. “Regina, did you call the police?” She asked as she opened her car door, already getting into it and not giving anything a second thought besides that of Regina’s safety.

“You are the police...” Regina started but was cut off by a more disturbing sound. Her heart jumped and the phone very almost slipped out of her hand. She swallowed back a scream before whispering down the phone. “Someone just rang the doorbell.”

Emma’s blood boiled, the terror in Regina’s voice causing her to act even faster than she already was. She had already buckled up and left her street. She didn’t live too far away from Regina, a fifteen-minute drive which she could easily cut down to ten minutes with the lack of traffic around that night. “I’ll be there in ten minutes. Whatever you do, do not open the door.  You’re gonna be okay, Regina. Just hold on.” She said; the urgency evident in her voice for both her own and Regina’s benefit. She tossed the phone down onto the passenger seat and gripped the steering wheel tightly as she put her foot down, begging her old yellow bug to pick up as much speed as it possibly could.

Regina kept hold of her phone despite her call to Emma having ended. She gripped onto it as if it were her only lifeline. She remained standing in the same spot in her kitchen; her kitchen that she had learned to walk in, had celebrated all of her birthdays in, the kitchen that she had grown up in and had always felt like the safest place in the world.

The doorbell chimed once more. Emma couldn’t have gotten here already. She took a deep breath. The usually friendly ringing from the doorbell echoed through the house now like that of a death knell. She didn’t know what to do. Emma had told her not to open the door but she didn’t know whether to hide or not. Should she try and escape? That’s what people did in movies, wasn’t it? Those people ended up dead, more often than not.

A few minutes had passed and she had stayed in the kitchen; she only had to hold on for as long as it took Emma to arrive. All she could hear was silence now and the sound of her own heart beating loudly inside her chest. She cautiously set her phone down on the table and headed out towards the dining room. She wanted to know if they had left, she wasn’t going to open the door though, she wasn’t that foolish but she was going to listen.

She was standing only a few inches away from the door, she could hear the rain now; each drop was pounding to the ground with an angry force. She crept closer, not knowing what to expect, her heart still sounding like a bass drum and her entire frame shaking as if she could lose her balance at any moment. She was only an arm’s reach away from her front door; she stared at the peephole that was in the center of the wooden door. Was she brave enough to look through it?

Curiosity got the better of her as it so often did and she found herself lurching forward, her right eye transfixed on the small hole in front of her. Her chest leaned against the cool door panel and her hands rested lightly on the wood while her eyes adjusted to the lens it was looking through. After a few seconds the darkness which she could see only intensified, the only sign of any light coming from the streetlight in the distance. Everything was blurry, from the rain, she presumed. She released a frustrated sigh and gave up on trying to find out who it was outside; they would’ve left now anyway if they had any sense.

Minutes seemed to pass even slower as she once again waited for Emma to arrive, she tried to keep her mind occupied by thinking of things that she would do in the future once this situation had been resolved. She wanted to go away somewhere, maybe France or Germany, Germany was renowned for having some of the best Christmas markets in the world and she hadn’t even begun to think about Christmas shopping yet.

Recently, she had started to dislike Christmas which was once her favorite holiday season. She had spent the last few Christmas’ at her friend Kathryn’s house, celebrating the day with Kathryn and her husband and their two children. She had always felt welcome there but it wasn’t the same as spending it with your very own family and sometimes she couldn’t help but feel like an imposter sitting at their dining table. She had no idea where she would be spending Christmas day this year.

Emma glanced at the clock on her car's dashboard while she sat impatiently at a red light. She was so close to getting to Regina; she could see the turning into her road just up ahead, if only this light would change to green. She hesitated on whether or not to call Regina to tell her she was almost there and for a second she was about to before she remembered that Regina had told her that she had been getting calls from the perpetrator. The last thing Emma wanted to do was freak her out even more. The light finally turned green and Emma slammed her foot on the ignition, her bug noisily getting into the correct gear before zooming down the sparsely filled street. 

Regina had just settled her nerves when she heard the doorbell chime once again. Instantly she became tense, it must be Emma; it had to be Emma. She stood up from her spot on the couch and cautiously walked out into the dining room. She tried to call out but only a croaky whisper escaped her, “Emma?”...


	6. A Little Tenderness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An earlier update than usual as I'm away tomorrow and didn't wanna leave you guys waiting too long.

"Regina?” Emma found herself, slightly out of breath, standing on Regina’s doorstep once again; the same feeling of curiosity inside of her as it was before, although this curiosity not being as welcoming as the last. Her eyes averted from the crimson door and began rapidly searching her surroundings. She couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary; everything was still and unnervingly quiet.

She heard a shuffling behind the door, a hesitation, a twist of the lock and then the cautious opening of the wooden entrance. Regina stood there in front of her; the look of fear and terrified anxiety stressed across her face was one that she, unfortunately, saw too often. She wanted to wrap her arms around her and hold her and tell her that everything was going to be alright but she couldn’t.

Her eyes dropped to her feet for a second not being able to look her in the eye. “Are you okay?” She asked feebly, knowing it was a ridiculous question but having to ask it anyway. “Any physical injuries?” Her eyes scanned over Regina, looking for any physical harm that she may have been victim to and felt moderately relieved when she saw that Regina looked to be unscathed. She knew though that some of the worst harm was caused mentally and by the looks of it that was what Regina was experiencing in this moment.

Regina couldn’t find any words, her trauma still ongoing. She lurched forward and grabbed Emma’s wrist pulling her inside as fast as she could and securing the door closed behind them. “I’m not hurt.” She managed to whisper out once the door was safely closed. “Thank you for coming.”

“Of course. I told you, I’ll be here whenever you need me to be.” Emma smiled softly and glanced over at the sturdy lock on Regina’s door. She allowed Regina to compose herself for a moment; she could practically see the relief flooding into her eyes as each second passed.

“Are you ready to tell me what happened?” She asked her gently, a hand placing itself soothingly on Regina’s bare arm.

Regina nodded and walked through to the living room with Emma following closely behind. The room was darker than it was previously, the streetlights which had illuminated the room being completely hidden behind the thick material of the curtains. The only source of light was from the dim setting of the single lightbulb which hung behind a lavish lampshade. Regina sank herself onto the couch allowing for her exhaustion to finally catch up with her.

Emma sat down afterward, a little more awkwardly; her mind set on whoever it was that was tormenting Regina. She knew she should call for her colleagues and follow protocol but she also knew that Regina would open up to her and may not be so open if there were other officers present. Besides, Regina had called her personally and not 999.

She pulled out her phone which had once again found its way into her back pocket. “Do you mind if I record this conversation? Formality.” She said, feeling a little guilty that she was breaching Regina’s confidentiality but knowing that if she didn’t have a recording of this conversation then it would be as if it never happened – In the eyes of the court anyway.

Regina nodded again. She repositioned herself slightly as if her outward appearance would have a direct effect on the recording of her voice. She sat up a little straighter and crossed her legs, her eyes pinned on Emma while she set up her phone.

It didn’t take long for Emma to get all of the information that she needed. This person had been outside purposely trying to scare Regina. It made her so angry.

Every day on this job she was confronted with the most immoral of people and every day she hated those people a little more. It was easy though, to hate them when she didn’t know them. At the moment they were like a ghost – faceless and evil but in reality, these people weren’t like that. Even the vilest of people have a heart and whoever it was that was doing this must have their own reasons for doing so. If only she could find out that reason and then maybe she could finally see who it was that had been hiding in the dark. “I need to call in some colleagues to take a look around outside. Whoever it was could have left something. Is that alright?”

“Yes,” Regina said quietly, after having just relived her ordeal again she was feeling a little shaky and dissociated. She tried not to think of that creature leaving anything behind. She wrapped her arms around herself; she never thought that she could feel so afraid and unsafe in her own home. She was thankful that Emma was there or she would’ve left by now – Gone for a long drive or visited her father’s grave, anything to clear her head. She paused mid-thought, a horrifying notion entering her. Would they have been able to track her if she did leave? “Do you think that I’m being followed?”

Emma’s head jerked up from her phone and she was met with a fresh fear that she was hoping to avoid seeing in Regina’s eyes. “It’s very possible.” She answered regretfully, honesty being the one thing that came so naturally when she was around the brunette. “I’m so sorry, Regina.” She added quietly and this time she went in for the hug. She wrapped her arms around the entirety of Regina’s small frame and allowed for Regina to settle onto her shoulder for as long or as little as she needed to.

Regina had all but collapsed into Emma’s arms, the comfort that she was seeking so badly was finally being offered to her and it was far too inviting to resist. She buried her head into Emma’s shoulder, her nose being gently tickled by stray blonde hairs which only provided her with even more nurturing warmth.

She stayed there for as long as she could, taking in deep calming breaths; finding more relaxation in the soft vanilla scent of Emma’s shampoo than she had in weeks of sleepless nights. She was so grateful that Emma didn’t once try to pull away and instead only held her tighter.

She knew this was intimate and she knew that this wasn’t the way that she should be behaving towards a detective working on her case but for whatever reason, she could not refrain from letting go. Tomorrow she would be more reserved but tonight, tonight she needed comfort and Emma was the only person who could provide it for her.

Emma had closed her eyes at some point and one of her hands had found that soft curve on Regina’s lower back and it had fitted so perfectly that she hadn’t had it in her to move it from that place. She needed to call forensics, she needed to brief the DCI about the updates to this case and she also needed to question Regina more about possible motives but she had decided that all of that could wait for a moment because right now she was comforting Regina and that seemed to be the one thing that she needed the most.

She felt a slight shuffling and the rise of Regina’s head signaled for her to let go and so she did, a little begrudgingly. She wasn’t entirely sure how to behave after that impromptu, unintentionally long but altogether satisfying hug so she excused herself to make those calls which she should have made earlier, leaving Regina alone in the living room.

It had been about ten minutes since Emma had returned from making various phone calls and Emma had all but exhausted Regina with questions regarding possible motives and unfortunately, for them both, Regina had come up with nothing. Emma had also asked Regina to think back to the call that she had answered to try and distinguish any other sounds that she may have heard but really, all she could hear was that creepy deep breathing and if she had the ability to identify someone simply by hearing them breathing then she would be working for the CIA by now.

At this point, Regina was feeling hopeless and Emma was feeling frustrated that this case was so damn confusing. Emma was about to continue to push Regina for anything she may have forgotten when they were interrupted by the doorbell. Regina jumped and stared wide-eyed at the blonde beside her who immediately reassured her that it was just the Forensics team who she had called so that they could check outside for any evidence.

Emma had been the one to stand up first and walk over to the door with Regina following her, still unsure that the guests outside were of the welcome sort. Emma opened the door and exchanged familiarities and information with her colleagues while Regina wavered a few steps behind, feeling like an unwanted guest in her own home which was slowly being turned into a museum of unsolicited artifacts.

“Ms. Mills. Hi again.” Ruby chimed, a little too loudly for the time of night that it was. She scooted past Emma and extended her hand to Regina, shaking it firmly.

David was close behind her and also made a beeline for Regina while Emma carried on talking to the men in white jackets. “I’m sorry we have to meet again under these circumstances.” David added in a much quieter tone than Ruby had previously used. “Has Emma explained what’s going to happen now?”

“Yes, you’ll be checking for evidence.” Regina responded languidly, her eyes fixated on the white coats that were listening intently to what Emma was saying and would look over in the area that she pointed in whenever she did so.

Ruby had followed her gaze and was already picking up on her uneasiness. “That’s Dr. Marco Booth, he’s the lead Forensic Scientist.” She said as her eyes followed the older man who had now made his way outside and had switched on a number of bright lights that focused on the muddy ground beneath his feet. “And the guy talking to Emma is his son August.”

Regina looked between the two, noticing the familiar traits between them. “I wasn’t aware forensic science was becoming a family run profession.” She opted and felt a little more relaxed now that she could put names to the scientists.

David chuckled, already becoming a fan of Regina’s unique sense of dry humor. “Yeah, we thought that was odd at first too but they’re two of the best in their field.”

“Hey, guys.” Emma greeted both David and Ruby as she left the forensics team to do their jobs and came back over to check on Regina. Both Ruby and David nodded in acknowledgment and made themselves a little scarce, walking over towards the doorstep so as not to crowd around Regina.

“Regina. I just finished briefing the forensic team and they’ve started investigating already, they shouldn’t be too long and then we’ll be able to give you some privacy. Will you be alright in here while we go and help them out?”

Regina nodded, thoroughly unconvincingly. “Yes. Yes, I’ll be quite alright.” She said but her body language proved otherwise.

Naturally, Emma caught Regina’s juxtaposed actions and she hesitated for a moment before looking over to her colleagues who were waiting for her by the door. Ruby caught her eye and raised an eyebrow. “Are you not coming outside, Serge?”

Emma looked back at Regina who was inspecting her manicure and avoiding any eye contact with her. “Actually I think I’m going to stay here with Regina.”

“Sure, we’ll fill you in on what we find.” David replied and felt Ruby elbow him in the ribs. He looked at her with an impish grin which she matched with one of her own; Emma never missed out on the action unless it was for a good reason. It was usually David or Ruby who sat with the victim and not the DI herself; Regina must have really made an impression on Emma.

“Cheers.” Emma replied, a blush instantly rising onto her cheeks as she saw the unsubtle response from her colleagues. She looked over at Regina who was still focused on scanning her fingernails; thankfully she was completely oblivious to the childish exchange that had happened between her two sergeants.

“You don’t have to stay inside with me, Emma. I’m not a child.” Regina said once Ruby and David were outside, she had looked up to meet Emma’s eyes which were staring warmly back at her. “But thank you, I do appreciate the offer.” She smiled at the blonde, beginning to feel a little safer again.

Emma shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal; Regina didn’t have to know that her behavior was extremely out of character however she knew that she’d be bombarded with questions from David and Ruby tomorrow though. “It’s totally fine, besides it’s cold outside.” She rubbed her palms together for good measure and followed Regina out of the dining room and back into the living room.

“Hm, that it is, Detective.” Regina smiled and turned around to look at Emma once they had both reached the room that they had previously been in. “Can I make you some tea?”

Emma matched Regina’s smile with one of her own. “I’d prefer coffee if that’s alright?”

Regina’s smile widened at that answer and she turned her back to leave for the kitchen. “Certainly, with a double helping of sugar, correct?” She called back already knowing what the reply would be.

“Uh, yeah. Thanks.” Emma chuckled lightly and watched Regina walk into the kitchen wondering whether she should follow or not. Regina never seemed to look back so Emma remained in the living room; she walked over to the drawn curtains and peeped outside. Forensics seemed busy searching for footprints in the soil while David and Ruby were hovering over their shoulders holding torches and asking questions. She smiled at her team, she was confident that they would leave no stone unturned, quite literally.

Regina returned to the living room not two minutes later carrying two steaming mugs of coffee, one containing significantly more sugar than the other. “Is everything alright out there?” She worried, noticing Emma quickly dropping the curtain and turning to face her as soon as she spoke.

“Yeah, everything’s going great.” Emma hurriedly made her way to the couch and sat in the spot which her coffee was aligned with. “Thanks for this.” She smiled at the brunette and held onto the warm coffee, the mug warming her up almost straight away.

Regina nodded and then sipped at her coffee which was still far too hot for Emma. “Thank you again for getting here so quickly. I’m sorry that I disturbed your evening.” Now that she had regained her head somewhat, she was beginning to feel a little awkward about this situation and how she had reacted.

“You didn’t, don’t worry. I’m glad that you called me.” Emma emphasized, the last thing that she wanted was for Regina to feel guilty. “Anyway, it’s my job to look after you. I mean, as I’m a detective and you’re a, um, a victim in this case.” She mentally face palmed and kept her eyes averted from Regina’s.

Regina bit her bottom lip to hold in the laughter that was about to come out upon the stumbling of Emma’s words however she did not appreciate the reiteration that she was the ‘victim’. Victim was not a word that she associated or wanted to be associated with. “Do you mind if we talk about something else?” She asked, taking her mind off of the current madness that was happening outside and away from the ‘v’ word seemed very appealing right about now.

A small frown creased over her forehead before she once again turned to the brunette beside her. “Um, yeah. What do you want to talk about?”

Regina pondered for a second, she really did want to find out more about Emma especially after their previous ‘getting to know one another’ conversation was cut short earlier that day. “Tell me more about yourself. You said before you didn’t have the best time growing up. How come?”

Emma couldn’t hide the eyebrow raise which she had just expressed; to say Regina was to the point would be an understatement. “Woah. Now I can see why you used to be a journalist.”

“I’m sorry. You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to.” Regina said hurriedly, cursing herself inwardly that she had gone back to her old habits; behavior like this was exactly why she didn’t have many friends, she thought. “I guess abrasiveness is in my blood.” She recalled that that was exactly the way that her mother used to speak to people, she had hated that growing up, she had lost many friends as a child due to her mother’s rudeness and she was sure that her teachers were extra harsh on her due to the frequent incidents that her mother had caused.

Emma shook her head; she knew Regina was just curious. “No, it’s okay. Just nobody really asks me about my past. It took me by surprise is all.” She fidgeted a little and put her coffee down on the table. Her eyes met with Regina’s and she felt slightly exposed but it wasn’t an unwelcome exposure more of an unknown one.

Regina smiled softly to urge her on, she could sense that Emma was somewhat of a private person and it meant a lot to her that she was willing to open up to her.

Emma cleared her throat before she started talking. “Um, well I grew up in Canning Town with my foster mother, Ingrid. My parents died when I was a baby.” She paused for a second and her voice lowered. “It was a house fire. I was lucky to get out unharmed, the neighbors heard me crying in the front room. They managed to get me out before the fire spread to where I was; they didn’t know my parents were upstairs.” Emma’s eyes drifted to the floor and she took a deep breath, the recollection of her parent’s death was always hard for her to talk about.

“I didn’t get told much about that night, I still don’t know what caused the fire or how long my parents were trapped in there for.” She paused again, her eyes locked on the foot of the coffee table. She felt soft fingertips trace over the back of her hand accompanied with a warm smile greeting her when she looked up. She linked her fingers through Regina’s and carried on with her story. “We were a fairly big household; there was me obviously, three older boys and two twin girls who were a couple of years older than me. We were all pretty close and the boys were always really protective of us. As I got older I always wanted to hang out with the guys, play football and go exploring in derelict houses and stuff like that. I was a lot younger than them but they never seemed to mind, they also seemed to get away with a lot more when I was with them.” She laughed fondly at the memory of her foster brothers, she needed to give them a call, it had been a while since she had heard from any of them.

“They were gone by the time I reached high school, they all moved away from our home and that’s when I started to get into trouble. The kids at my school were either really rich or really not rich and you can guess which category I fell into. By the time I was fifteen, I was in an unofficial gang and we used to spend most of our evenings doing a lot of bad shit and our weekend's shoplifting. And then yeah, that one time I met Neal and everything changed. I started actually studying and doing my homework and managed to get good enough grades to join the police academy. And I knew as soon as I put on that uniform for the first time that it was what I was supposed to do.” Emma felt her cheeks turn a little pink after she finished speaking but she didn’t know why exactly; maybe it was because she hadn’t been so open to anybody for so long or maybe it was because it was Regina who she was opening up to.

Regina was just smiling at her, partly dumbstruck and partly fascinated by the life that Emma had led, it couldn’t have been more different to her own and she was so intrigued by everything about it; about her. “You have lived quite the life, Emma Swan.” She smiled a little wider when she noticed the smile painted on Emma’s lips. And that smile pretty much confirmed that she did indeed like Emma Swan in more than just a professional manner.

An abrupt clanging brought her out of that musing and the reality of her current situation, unfortunately, raised its head once again. “What was that?” Her head whipped frantically in the direction that the sound came from.

Emma’s head too turned to the closed curtain, the noise coming from outside. “It’s probably just the team cleaning up, it’s okay, I promise.” Emma squeezed Regina’s palm a little harder but it seemed to do little to calm the brunette down.

Regina’s eyes remained glued to the window despite not being able to see anything through the curtains. “What if it’s something else? Emma, what if they’re back?” She panicked, her speech pattern noticeably higher and faster than usual.

“Regina, listen to me. Whoever it was that was outside before, they are not out there now. DS Nolan and Lucas would have checked and cleared the area. They won’t come back here, especially not when the area is canvassed.” She spoke as calmly as she could hoping that Regina would take in what she was saying.

Emma’s words seemed to help her and she looked away from the window and back at the blonde. “Can you stay with me tonight?” She asked feebly, she was long past the stage of acting strong and she was no longer going to hide the fact that she was now terrified.

“I…” Emma began; how she wished she could say yes to Regina’s offer but she knew that that was against the rules. “It’s against protocol for me to stay here overnight but I can stay here for a little while longer. I’m sorry, Regina. You can call me whenever you need to though, I’ll always answer.” The look of disappointment on Regina’s face pained Emma and she felt the brunette retrieve her hand from hers and folded her arms tightly across her chest. The last thing Emma wanted was for Regina’s walls to shoot back up so instead of following suit and moving away from her she did the opposite and moved in closer. “Is there anywhere else you would feel comfortable staying?”

Regina bowed her head before shaking it once and trying to muster up as much defiance as she had left in her. “I’d prefer to stay here, all my things are here. This is _my_ home.” She could feel the warmth from Emma’s thigh radiating towards her, only a centimeter away from touching her own. The fact that she was so close to her yet still so far away was making her feel even more alone than she could imagine.

Emma understood Regina’s reasoning, she understood that this was her home and that no one would force her out of it, she understood all of that and she knew if the tables were turned then her decision would be the same as Regina’s. She admired her courage and she watched her as she seemed to begin to daydream again, she wondered what was going on in her mind but she didn’t ask. “Regina?” She whispered, she didn’t know what she was going to say but she liked the sound of her name falling effortlessly out of her mouth.

Regina turned to the blonde at the sound of her name; her eyes were tired and a little watery from the amount of emotions which just wouldn’t seem to rest. “Emma?” She replied, her gaze fixed on the emerald green eyes of the detective just spaces away from her.

Emma’s shaky palm was raised, her hand hesitating over the invitingly smooth skin of Regina. She slowly leaned forward and cupped her cheek, their eyes meeting together in a moment of solidarity and understanding. She knew this was wrong and she should wait and act on these feelings after the case had closed but there was something in that moment that just felt so right.

“Serge?...” David bellowed as he and Ruby rounded the corner and walked into the living room.

In an instant both Emma and Regina had separated, Emma almost jumping away from Regina, her hand immediately whipping back to her side. Both women looked over at David and Ruby who stood awkwardly in the doorway, it was clear that the two of them had seen their interaction yet neither of them looked as if they were about to bring it up.

“Oh um, sorry for interrupting.” David looked over to Ruby who was already staring back at him wide-eyed with a deep grin embedded on her face.

“It’s fine.” Emma said too hastily for it to come across as natural and stood up from the couch thoroughly too quickly. She looked down towards Regina who tried to look as poised as she possibly could and had swiftly grabbed a magazine that was sitting on the coffee table. “I’ll be right back, okay?”

Regina nodded with a small smile and watched as the three detectives walked out into the dining room before turning to a random page in her magazine and pretending to read.

“Did you find anything?” Emma asked, cutting right to the point so neither David nor Ruby had any chance of asking her about what had just happened between herself and Regina.

Ruby raised an eyebrow but cut straight to the chase, she could and she would grill Emma about her love life later. “We found a partial footprint by the apple tree, Forensics have photographed it and sent it away for further examination; they’re putting it at the top of their list so we should get the results sometime tomorrow hopefully.” Ruby kept her tone hushed so Regina couldn’t overhear anything that was being said.

Emma nodded, taking in the information that they could potentially have a very real lead in this case.

“We’ll also be checking with the phone company as soon as their offices are open in the morning to see if they can give us any information on where those calls came from.” David added quietly although he wasn’t that confident that the phone company would be able to provide them with any details, they rarely could in cases like these.

“Thanks, that’s really great work. Have Marco and August left?” Emma smiled, this was good news; at this stage, any clues were considered to be good news.

“They’re packing up now, we’re gonna catch a ride back with them. Are you alright driving back yourself?” Ruby asked, knowing full well that Emma had made her own way here and was more than likely going to make her own way back.

“Yeah, I’ve got my bug outside.”

Ruby glanced between David who was being far too quiet and Emma who still hadn’t once looked either of them in the eye. “How’s Regina holding up?”

Emma paused a little longer than necessary before answering. “She’s a little jumpy; I think I’m going to keep her company for a little while longer.”

“You sure that’s a good idea, Serge?”

“I’m a professional, Ruby.” Emma snapped, a little more defensive than she had intended to be.

“If you’re sure; I’m just trying to look out for you, Em.” Ruby smiled softly, she hadn’t meant to offend Emma in any way yet she would have had to be blind to not have picked up on the undeniable chemistry that had been displayed between Regina and her Sergeant.

David felt the tension brewing between the two women and decided that now would be the perfect time to cut in and change the subject. “Are you going to tell her about what we found?”

Emma returned Ruby’s smile with one of her own, she knew she hadn’t meant to offend her; she was not only her colleague but one of her best friends as well and looking out for one another was what they did. She looked back to David. “I think I’m going to wait until tomorrow until the details on that footprint gets back to us.”

He nodded. “Your call, Serge. Anyway, we’re gonna be going, see you in a couple of hours.”

“Send our regards to Regina.” Ruby smiled, meaning the sentiment in the nicest way possible.

“Good night Ruby, David.” Emma walked both her sergeants out of the house and waved them goodbye as the forensics truck pulled away, making sure that she took an extensive gaze into the street to make sure that there was nobody else out there. When she was confident that the nearby vicinity was empty she closed the door and made her way back into Regina’s living room.

“Sorry about that…” She called as she approached but stopped midsentence when she saw the brunette now fast asleep on the couch, her feet curled up neatly beneath her and her head propped up on one of the cushions. Emma smiled at the sight, thankful that Regina had finally managed to get some sleep despite the amount of stress she knew that she must be going through.

She quietly took hold of both of the empty coffee mugs and walked them out into the kitchen and popped them into the dishwasher. When she returned to the living room she looked around as unobtrusively as possible to find some sort of blanket to put over Regina not having the heart to wake her up. Her eyes settled on a knitted throw which was folded neatly over the back of a unit; that would work perfectly. She unfolded it and gently placed it over Regina’s sleeping form.

She waited for a moment in case Regina stirred and when she didn’t she slowly crept her way to the door. Once she was outside she gave the area a once over again just to be completely sure that they were alone and when she was satisfied she went to sit in her bug. She turned on the radio and the heating and made sure to keep her eyes glued on the large white house outside of her car window. There was no way that anyone but herself would be watching Regina for the rest of the night. She moved the seat back so she was comfortable and pulled out some snacks from the glove compartment, it was her duty to keep Regina safe and she was going to do just that.


	7. New Rules

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to add some fluff to this chapter because the next two are going to be a little more intense, I hope you enjoy!

Friday 4th November.

Regina grunted at the intrusion of light which had found its way through the curtains and was now shining into her face. She sat up, a little disorientated and extremely stiff from spending the night sleeping on the couch. She stretched and rolled her neck a few times as it took the brunt of the stiffness from lying on that tiny cushion. She neatly folded the throw which had covered her, assuming that Emma was the one that placed it over her during the night. She smiled at the gesture, wondering what happened to Emma and when it was that she had left.

She walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water and to retrieve her cell phone from where she had left it last night. For some reason she felt much safer, maybe it was because of the police tape margining her home which served as a warning sign or maybe it was because she knew that she could rely on Emma whenever she needed her, whatever it was she was appreciative of it.

She thought back to her behavior towards Emma the previous night, it probably wasn’t as elusive as she had hoped, after all, she had practically fallen asleep in her arms at one point. She didn’t regret it though, Emma had been exactly what she had needed at that moment and it was just unfortunate that the timing and the circumstances of their meeting had to be so inappropriate.

She gazed at her phone for a moment, the background of herself smiling in front of the Colosseum staring back at her, the digits 9:21 enhancing the photograph. She knew Emma started work at nine so calling her with a non-work related matter was definitely out of the question. She had a feeling that she and Emma were already somewhat of a target for office gossip. A text message would have to suffice.

_‘Emma, thank you for last night…’_

She deleted that straight away, thanking Emma for doing her job seemed quite pointless however she didn’t know how to put ‘thank you for talking to me like I am an actual human being and comforting me like I wasn’t some cold robot’ into a text message. She sighed; she was supposed to be good with words.

_‘Emma, thank you for everything that you did for me last night. You have no idea how much you helped me. I hope you have a good day. Regina.’_

Regina hesitated before sending the message and reread it a couple of times, her frown deepening each time that she did so. Never had she ever paid this much attention to typing a damn text message. She rolled her eyes at herself and hit the send button. If Emma could see her now she would for sure be laughing. She laid the phone face down on the counter and went to take a shower, hopefully, today would be non-eventful and as close to normal as it could possibly be.

* * *

Emma let out a long yawn while she typed up the remainder of her report on last night’s events. She hadn’t long left Regina’s house having remained outside for as long as she could before she was due into work. She had thought about calling some uniform officers to take over and keep an eye on the house but she knew DCI Gold would have a fit if she organized that without his assessment first. She hoped that her nighttime presence would have been enough to keep the stranger away. She took the last long gulp of coffee which remained in her cup; it was a good job that she was used to working on little to no sleep.

A number of eyes pulled towards her direction at the sound of her phone buzzing against her desk. “Sorry.” She mumbled as she swiftly picked it up and couldn’t hide the smile that attacked her when she saw who the message was from.

David and Ruby had of course been two of the people who had glanced over at her when her phone went off and were still watching her as she read the message with a bashful grin on her face.

After a moment they looked at each other and both mouthed the word ‘Regina’ and then continued watching Emma who was typing something on her phone.

Once Emma had placed her phone back down on her desk she continued to type the report up on her laptop with much more gust than she had previously. The exchange of messages with Regina seeming to give her more energy than any amount of instant coffee could.

Ruby, whose eyes still remained on the blonde who was situated just across the room from her, had decided that it was time for some answers. “Heard from Regina today?”

“Ruby, Emma’s private life is private.” David chastised but was also secretly eager to know what was going on between his friend and Regina Mills.

Emma rolled her eyes, surprised that it had taken Ruby this long to start with the interrogation. “Guys; there’s nothing to tell.”

“Was that text you got just now from her?”

Emma kept her eyes on the screen of her laptop, not wanting to give anything away. “That’s none of your concern.”

Ruby pouted, she hated not knowing what was going on especially with Emma. “Come on Em. We can see the way you look at each other.”

Emma feigned ignorance, “what do you mean?”

“She’s right, you guys aren’t subtle.” David cut in and then withdrew from the conversation while he answered his desk phone on the first ring.

“Yeah, I think we were two seconds away from walking in on you making out last night,” Ruby smirked at the memory, regretting that she and David had chosen that exact time to fill her in on the case.

Emma glanced up from her laptop and gave Ruby a stern look. “That was nothing.”

Ruby smiled knowingly in response. “I’m happy for you, it’s about time you found somebody and Regina is hot.”

“There’s nothing going on I told you. I’m working on her case.” Emma shook her head, knowing that no matter how many times she denied it, Ruby would still not believe her.

“Are you gonna ask her out after the case is closed?” Ruby asked excitedly to which Emma again rolled her eyes to. “Oh, you totally are!”

“Don’t you have reports to write up?” Emma asked, trying to move the subject of conversation as far away from her love life as possible.

Ruby grinned smugly, “I finished them a couple of minutes ago when you were sending heart eye emoji’s to Regina.”

Emma couldn’t help but laugh at that, “I was not sending her heart eye emoji’s.”

“So you _were_ texting her, huh?” Ruby smirked; satisfied that she had at least got something out of Emma.

“Guys, that was the phone company,” David announced loud enough to cut off the conversation between Emma and Ruby who had both turned their attention towards him. “Turns out the phone that was used to call Regina last night was a prepaid burner phone so...”

“Can’t be tracked.” Emma sighed but wasn’t entirely surprised by the revelation.  

“Exactly. The company said they’re sending her a new number as we speak so hopefully she won’t be getting any more unwanted calls in the future.”

Emma nodded, at least that was something. “Have we heard anything about the footprint?”

“Not yet, they’re gonna keep us informed. They said it might take a little longer than usual though because of the weather conditions compromising the soil.” David replied regretfully, things were certainly not going their way today.

“We have lined up some interviews with some possible suspects that we got from the list that Regina provided us with though,” Ruby stated, trying to inject some positivity into the case. 

Emma perked up slightly; “what do you have?”

“We have a Killian Jones who worked for Ms. Mills for a number of years; he has previous convictions including theft and unpaid taxes. We haven’t found a motive but he was let go from Regina’s company due to unforeseen circumstances which is worth looking into. He’s coming to the station in about an hour for a chat.” David responded and then looked over to Ruby who carried on. 

“And tomorrow morning David’ll be talking to a Miss Tina Bell. She interned at Regina’s magazine for six months and according to another ex-colleague of Regina’s who I spoke to, she kicked up quite a fuss when she wasn’t given a job at the end of the internship.”

“Sounds promising, call me after you’ve interviewed Killian.” Emma closed her laptop after printing her report and walked over to collect the document from the printer at the other side of the room.

“Will do, where are you off to?” David asked as his eyes followed Emma across to the other side of the room.

“To deliver this to the DCI,” Emma replied waving the report around and then tucking it under her arm. “And then I’m gonna fit some locks on Regina’s windows.”

Ruby frowned, “why don’t you get a PO to do that?”

“Because I’m also going to ask her about those suspects you mentioned, thought I may as well kill two birds with one stone, you know,” Emma called behind her shoulder as she made her way out of the office and headed to the DCI’s office.

Ruby looked to David with a smile on her face. “David, I think our little Swan might be in love.”

David chuckled. “Don’t let her hear you say that.”

* * *

“Hi, Killian, thank you for coming in today.” David greeted and pressed play on the voice recorder before taking his seat beside Ruby.

Killian shrugged and offered a small grunt, still unsure why he was there. The only information he knew was that it concerned Regina Mills who he hadn’t been in contact with for a number of years.

“We don’t want to take up too much of your time so we’ll be as quick as possible,” Ruby spoke and looked down at her papers before continuing. “We’ve called you in today to ask you a few questions regarding Ms. Regina Mills. We heard that you used to work for her, is that true?”

Killian nodded before being reminded that he needed to speak up for the tape. “Yeah, that’s right.”

David waited before asking his question in case Killian planned on elaborating which he didn’t. “And did you and Ms. Mills get along? Were there any issues between the two of you?”

“No issues,” Killian replied and began tapping his boot against the floor.

Ruby looked to David uncomfortably, she understood why Killian was acting this way but he had agreed to come in for questioning, he should expect questions. “Could you explain to us why it was that you left the magazine company when you did?”

Killian huffed, “I can’t remember, love. I guess I found something better to do than fetch coffee for rich bitches.”

David raised his eyebrows and glanced to Ruby who was glaring towards the man in front of her. “It says here you were let go for unforeseen circumstances, could you elaborate on that at all?”

“Like I said before, I don’t remember.”

David was beginning to get annoyed with these unhelpful answers but tried to remain as calm as possible. “Okay, I have to ask you about your previous convictions.”

Killian ceased from tapping his foot and let out an exaggerated sigh. “Look, mate, those were a long time ago. I’ve got a new life now, a new job and I haven’t thought about Regina Mills for a good few years. Now, do you mind hurrying this along cos I’ve got places to be.”

David and Ruby shared another look and Ruby skipped straight to the most important question. “Where were you on the night of Thursday 3rd November?”

“You mean yesterday? I was at the pub, The Pirate’s Bay. Was there ‘til the wee hours.” He answered arrogantly knowing that that was the real question that the police had wanted to ask him all along. 

“Can anybody confirm that at all?”

“The landlord, the barmaids, the rest of the pub. I was watching the football.” Killian folded his arms across his chest and stared at David in a somewhat intimidating manner.

Ruby picked up on this and decided that they had attained all of the information that they needed from him and it was probably best if he were to just leave before he antagonized David even more. “Okay, thank you again for your time. Are you okay finding your own way out?”

“I think I can find the way, miss,” Killian replied sarcastically and pushed his chair out as loudly as he could. David held the door open for him, a fake smile plastered on his face as he watched the man leave the room.

“Well, he was delightful.” Ruby sniped as soon as Killian was halfway down the corridor.

“Got an alibi though,” David replied, disappointed that this interview had led them nowhere.

Ruby sighed and tucked the chairs back under the table. “Yeah let’s go check that alibi out before we inform Emma.”

“Good idea, you can buy me a beer while we’re there.” David smiled hopefully, trying to calm himself down from the mood that Killian had worked him into.

“No can do, you know what they say about drinking on the job,” Ruby responded and patted David on the back as she walked past him. “I’ll buy you a coffee though, how about that?”

“You’re a star, Rubes.”

* * *

Emma hung up the phone after David had filled her in on the rather unsuccessful interview with Killian Jones, turns out he had a solid alibi. Here’s hoping that Tina Bell would be a more likely suspect, at least she seemed to have a motive.

She now found herself on Regina’s doorstep, “Good Morning, I’ve come to fit your locks.” She said and gave the small toolbox that she was holding a shake, the contents rattling inside.

Regina couldn’t help but smile when she saw Emma standing at the other side of her door. “I didn’t know that you doubled as a handyman.” She glanced down to the small toolbox and wondered why an officer of Emma’s level would be doing such a menial task as fitting in security locks.

“I prefer handywoman.” Emma shrugged and walked into the house which she was becoming so familiar with. “Did you sleep okay last night? There haven’t been any further problems, have there?” Emma worried, Regina had seemed fine during their text exchange earlier but she found herself constantly worried about her safety.

“I’m happy to say that I have not heard anything today. Thank you again for staying for so long last night.”

“It’s fine, not a problem.” She said quickly, not wanting to talk about how long she actually stayed; if Regina knew she had spent the night outside her house then she would have some difficult questions to answer. “Shall we start at the top and work our way down?” She asked in reference to the lock changing which she was about to commence.

“Okay.” Regina closed the door behind them, still a little confused as to why Emma was really here but she led the way upstairs nonetheless. “I wasn’t expecting you to visit today, is everything okay? With the case, I mean.”

Emma followed behind Regina admiring the artwork which decorated the wall of the staircase. “It’s progressing,” Emma stated as she filled Regina in on everything she knew so far which unfortunately wasn’t all that much. “I also have to ask you a few things after I’ve sorted these locks.” She followed Regina into the bathroom and made her way towards the window while Regina leaned on the door frame. “Oh, and don’t worry about calling the security company people, I already have. They’re coming Monday morning to fix that camera out front, unfortunately, that was the earliest time they had.”

Regina smiled, she had completely forgotten about having to call the security company. “Thank you.” She watched as Emma pulled out some locks from the metal toolbox. “You know, I can probably fit these locks myself, they don’t look all that difficult.”

Emma looked over her shoulder at the brunette, the white window lock gripped tightly in her hand. “You probably could but I needed an excuse to get away from David and Ruby.”

Regina folded her arms across her chest and arched an eyebrow. “Have they been insinuating things between us?”

Emma gave a puzzled look before turning to face the window and lining up the lock into the correct place. “How did you know?”

“I figured they’d be giving you a hard time after they walked in on that moment between us last night.” Regina pulled herself up straight and walked over to stand by where Emma had left her toolbox.

“We should probably talk about that.” Emma held the lock in place before glancing down to the toolbox by Regina’s feet. “Um, can you just pass me that screwdriver please?”

“Here.” She handed her the tool along with a couple of screws.

“Thanks.” Emma placed the screw in the hole and slowly began to screw the lock into place. Once she had got a steady rhythm going she looked over to Regina. “So I realize that my actions were unprofessional last night and I’m sorry about that, I’m usually very professional when I’m working. I don’t know what came over me really; I always try and keep the job separate from my personal feelings.”

“It wasn’t only you, Emma. I was extremely unprincipled too.” Regina paused for a second to collect her thoughts. “I suppose the heat of the moment won over our rationality.”

“Uh, yeah. You make it sound so much better than I do.” Emma laughed lightly, did this mean that Regina liked her also? She had expected she had, the energy she felt when she was around her was much too strong to be just one-sided. She stopped what she was doing and faced the brunette needing to know if what she suspected was indeed true.

“You don’t make it sound too terrible and well, you made me feel comfortable, at least as comfortable as I could’ve been in that situation. You really helped me last night.” Regina smiled, her eyes not leaving Emma’s to emphasize her sincerity.

Emma tried, she really tried to hide the blush that had now taken ownership on her cheeks but she couldn’t and the fact that she knew that she was blushing made her feel like a love-struck teenager again. “I’m glad that I could help you. I would hate for you to think that I was taking advantage or anything.”

“I would never think that,” Regina answered quickly, not wanting Emma to ever feel that she was taking advantage of her. She had become somewhat enchanted by the blonde ever since the first time that she had seen her in the coffee shop; that brief sighting still unbeknownst to Emma.

Emma smiled earnestly; she swallowed and plucked up as much courage as she could do. “Do you want to, I don’t know; go for dinner or something when we’ve closed this case?”

Regina beamed unashamedly, “I would love to.” And for the first time in years, she felt wanted, relaxed; human. It was strange how such a simple question could make her feel this way.

Emma wore a smug grin and she really wanted to call David and Ruby and tell them everything. In fact, she wanted to shout it from the rooftops that she had somehow managed to score a date with Regina Mills but of course, she couldn’t, well not until this case was solved. “Sweet.” She replied and continued smiling childishly at Regina.

It wasn’t long before Regina’s more cogent side came into play and as much as she wished this case was already over and done with, she knew that it, unfortunately, wasn’t. “We should probably set some boundaries while the case is still ongoing. I would never forgive myself if I jeopardize your position in the police force.”

“You’re right.” Emma nodded, she was actually thinking the same, there definitely needed to be some sort of system to make sure everything stayed in order. “Rule number one: We can’t be too intimate.” She said thinking back to that moment last night, moments like that could not happen again. “But hugs are allowed, I’m not letting you go hugless. Hugs are a human necessity.”

Regina chuckled, “Is that so?”

“Yeah, saw it on the Discovery Channel.”

“You did not,” Regina rolled her eyes, her smile still wide.

“Did so. Rule number two: This one is mainly for me; I must always put the case and your safety first before anything else especially my feelings.” This one was particularly important to her and it was one that she had already broken many times last night. She needed to go by the book from now on.

Regina nodded understandingly. “Rule number three: I must see you as Detective Swan first and foremost.”

“What happens if we break the rules?” Emma asked.

Regina gave Emma a serious look, one which she must’ve given to her inferiors when she worked at that big magazine, Emma thought. “We won’t, will we Detective?”

“No. No of course not.” Emma responded and turned her attention back to the lock which was successfully screwed into place. She checked it to make sure that it did indeed lock and unlock and when she was convinced that it worked perfectly she turned back to Regina, screwdriver still in hand. “Okay, one lock down, two to go.”

Regina retrieved the toolbox from the floor and led the way out of the bathroom. “Let’s do the Guest room next.”

“Great. Oh and just off the record, do you remember somebody called Tina Bell who used to work for you?” Emma asked, she didn’t want to tell Regina too much but she was curious as to what it was she could expect from the interview with Tina tomorrow.

* * *

_They had just walked into view, the Detective was doing something to the windows and Regina was hovering by her side like some lost little puppy. Surely it wasn’t normal for detectives to insert themselves so fully into the lives of their victims._

_Last night had been a complete bust. The last thing that they had expected was for Regina to call her detective friend so quickly; they barely had a chance to escape before she had gotten there. They were lucky that they knew this area so well, they were also lucky that Regina had still not noticed that there was a gap in the trees at the end of her backyard which made for a perfect escape route._

_They couldn’t dwell on the past though especially when they had so many more things planned. All they could do now was wait for the perfect timing and then they were going to strike again and this time they weren’t going to be so nice._


	8. Truth be Gold

Saturday 5th November.

DS David Nolan had already had quite the morning. It was Ruby’s day off meaning that the tasks that they would usually have shared were left to him to complete alone. He had spent the morning in Interview Room B speaking to a potential suspect, Tina Bell. He had been confident before the interview, Tina had a motive, a dislike of Regina and having been an intern at a magazine she certainly knew a thing or two about writing letters. However, it seemed that these three factors turned out to be completely irrelevant.

Tina Bell now worked as a dancer on the West End, meaning that every night she was performing on stage in front of hundreds of witnesses, therefore, providing her with a skin-tight alibi. This hadn’t been good news for David and he once again found himself regretting that he had gotten his hopes up on a possible suspect.

Things seemed to continue to get worse for him as he had just read over the Forensics report which had just been mailed in from the front office. It certainly was not the result that he had hoped for and now he had the difficult job of telling Emma the bad news.

“Serge, we got the report back about the footprint,” David said as he walked into the open office which was noticeably quieter due to the absence of his partner.

Emma looked up from her desk, a migraine threatening to approach as she had spent most of the morning staring at her laptop doing online research. “What does it say?”

“You ain’t gonna like it.” He warned to which Emma responded with nothing but a scowl followed by a nod for him to continue. “Shoe size - undetermined, shoe style - undetermined, and shoe make – undetermined.” He stated and placed the report onto the edge of Emma’s desk for her to read over herself.

She picked up the top piece of paperwork and skimmed over it, gritting her teeth as she saw the inconclusive results in bold. “How is that possible?”

“Report said that the rain compromised the results.” David shrugged, these things happened and it sucked but it couldn’t be helped.

“Could the weight of the person not have been distinguished from the impact of the print in the soil?”

“Best they could get was an estimate, a very vague estimate.” David hovered behind Emma and picked up the second sheet of paper which was lying on the desk.

That didn’t sound good and Emma was almost afraid to ask; “how vague?”

“Well we can say with certainty that we’re looking for a full grown adult, so you can cross off any psycho kids from the suspect list.” David placed a soothing hand on Emma’s shoulder, knowing that anger would be her reaction to that piece of information.

He was correct and in a second the piece of paper which Emma had been holding had been flung to the floor. “Really? Is that it?”

“Afraid so.”

“Thanks for letting me know.” She drew her eyes back to the screen in front of her. David waited for a few moments before he gave Emma’s shoulder a final squeeze and walked over to his desk.

Emma took a deep breath; she could still feel David’s eyes resting on her despite him now being at the opposite side of the room. She knew she had to keep her cool, her anger issues used to get the better of her many a time but over the years she had learned to control them better.

She bit her lip, not knowing quite where to go from here. She felt like she was back at square one again, she sighed deeply. Maybe that’s what she should do, maybe she should start at square one again; the letters. She rummaged through the drawers of her desk looking for the initial piece of evidence in the case and pulled out the folder of bagged up letters when she had found it.

She laid out the letters in front of her, scanning over them in an attempt to pick out any consistencies or patterns. The main thing she noticed was the language, juvenile, childish. Maybe this perp had some kind of childhood trauma, maybe they grew up with Regina and things turned sour? But if that were true then why did they choose now to bring up their past?

It had been ten minutes since Emma had begun to study the letters in front of her and her heart beat had just about returned to a normal pace. She was so absorbed in her work that she hadn’t noticed Belle French, DCI Gold’s assistant and fiancé, enter the complex.

“Emma? DCI Gold would like to see you in his office.” She spoke quietly once she had reached her desk so as not to arouse any suspicion around the office. DCI Gold rarely called anyone to his office without an appointment and when he did it was often not for a good reason.

Emma looked up at the intrusion immediately and at once she feared the worst. “Why does he want to see me?”

Belle shrugged, she seldom got informed on such matters. “I’m sure it’s just a routine check up on the case.”

“Right, sure.” Emma stood up and shot a nervous look toward David who sent her a hopeful one back. If Gold had found out about just how close she and Regina had gotten then this meeting certainly would not end well.

Belle led Emma to Gold’s office, the walk short and silent as Emma battled her inner nerves. “Good luck,” Belle whispered in Emma’s ear as she left the blonde standing outside the closed door of their superior. The solid black letters on the door that spelled out his name seeming to taunt her while she stared at them.

She knocked and barely had to wait a second before he beckoned her in. She opened the door cautiously and tried to look as confident as she could; denial would be her response. She knew he would have no proof and office hearsay alone would not be enough. After all, David and Ruby were the only ones who had seen what happened and she trusted them with her life, she knew they would never backstab her in such a way.

“DI Swan, take a seat.” He said as he leaned forward in his chair, his elbows leaning onto the unnecessarily large desk in front of him. “I’ve called you here today to discuss your current case.”

Emma sat down; her legs crossed so as to stop them from shaking and giving away her nerves. “The Mills case?”

“Yes. How’s it progressing?” He asked condescendingly already knowing exactly how the case was going.

Emma perked up a tad, okay, so maybe this wasn’t about her ‘relationship’ with Regina. Still, she had a tough battle on her hands, Gold was a man all about results and here she was, with very little resources let alone any results. "It’s slow but I’m sure we’ll catch a break soon enough. We’ve eliminated a few suspects and...”

“I’ve seen the reports, you have practically nothing. I have you and both DS Nolan and DS Lucas working this case and the three of you have still found very little.” Gold cut her off, he leaned back in his chair and his eyebrows rose in such a manner which was both threatening and demeaning.

Emma clenched her fists, she wasn’t in the position that she wanted to be in this case but she and her sergeants had all worked extremely hard and the way that he was belittling their efforts was not sitting right with her. “In all due respect Sir, this is a difficult case. The perp obviously knows what they are doing and has a lot of experience doing it. I’m confident that we’ll make some progress, I’m looking over the evidence again and...”

“I don’t need excuses DI Swan, I need results and you are not giving me those, are you? I cannot have three of my highest ranking detectives working on one case with no consequences; I’m going to be reviewing the rest of the cases we have and reassigning you, DS Lucas and DS Nolan to appropriate ones.”

Emma took a deep breath; her nails were now digging so far into her palms that she could practically feel the blood beginning to break through. “What about the Mills case?”

“I will review the Mills case with my superiors and inform you of what’s happening on Monday morning. You can carry on with the case until then.” Gold pulled out some paperwork from his drawer and read over it, signaling that there was no more to this conversation.

Emma knew that was her cue to leave but she couldn’t give up without a fight. This was for Regina, after all. “I’m sorry Sir but there really is nothing to review, Ms. Mills is in danger. This Perp was outside her house, harassing her with calls and letters and you think it’s best to reassign this case to another team. We know this case, we know Regina, and in my opinion, you would be making a very big mistake by taking it away from us.” Her breathing was heavy and she had definitely raised her voice more than she should have but sometimes that was the only way to get through to people like Gold.

“DI Swan, your team has provided insufficient evidence. There are other cases coming in which also need our attention. This decision is not personal and I suggest you think again before speaking to me in the manner that you just did. Now, if you can see yourself out, I will inform you of what is happening Monday.”

Gold stared at her until she was forced to break the eye contact and she was sure that she saw a satisfactory smirk appear on his face for a split second. “Yes, Sir.” She replied meekly, knowing when the right time to regress was. She let herself out and walked back to her workplace, ignoring anyone that she passed on the way.

David had watched her storm back into the office and he wondered what it was that Gold has said to her to make her even angrier than she had been previously. He wanted to go over to her and ask her but he knew that the best thing for Emma when she was in a mood such as this one was for her to be alone. He would catch up with her later but until then he would remain scarce as would the rest of the office, he presumed.

Emma had returned to her desk, her eyes were resting on Regina’s letters yet her brain was a million miles away. DCI Gold had done some shitty things in the past but this; this was a new low, even for him. He knew this wasn’t a simple case and he knew that if he gave it to a brand new team then they, too, would struggle to get any leads.

She tapped her fingers on the desk, needing to calm down for everyone’s sake, she wanted to prove Gold wrong, she needed to. And what about Regina? If she found out from somebody else that her case was being handed over to another team then she would never forgive her. She had to fill her in; she deserved to know what was going on.

‘ _Are you free to meet for lunch? Around 1?’_ She texted her and waited impatiently until her phone buzzed a few minutes later.

 _‘1pm at Dolly’s?’_ The text said, luckily she knew of the place that Regina had mentioned.

‘ _Thanks see you there.’_ Emma put her phone down once more and tried to regain her focus in any way that she could. She started reading the letters again, trying as hard as she could to get into the head of the writer.

Belle French was many things but one thing she was, in particular, was compassionate and that’s why she had thought of nothing else but Emma’s feelings ever since she had watched the blonde walk out of Gold’s office. She and Emma were not overly close but she did consider her to be a friend and friendships were important to her.

Ruby had once told her that it was best to leave Emma alone when she was in a mood but seeing Emma in such a state of distress because of something that her fiancé had said was causing an endless amount of upset in her and she refused to simply let it go. So here she was making her way over to Emma’s desk for the second time that morning. “Are you okay, Emma? I heard what happened. Sometimes I think DCI Gold forgets how thin his office walls are.” She asked somewhat nervously once Emma had looked up with a fiery rage still present in her eyes.

Emma hadn’t expected anyone to approach her, especially not Belle who she tried to not be angry at despite her close association with Gold. “He has no right even considering taking us off of this case. He knows that some cases take longer than others.”

Belle nodded softly, her nervous exterior on full display in front of the detective. “I’ll do my best to make him reconsider. I know that he has a lot of pressure coming from the top about getting positive results but I didn’t think that he’d want to reassign this case especially as it involves Regina.”

Emma’s eyes narrowed, what was that supposed to mean? “Does he know Regina? How?”

Belle bit her lip, unsure of whether to explain or change the subject altogether. “Oh, I assumed that he told you. He used to be friends with her parents; I don’t think that he’s seen her since her mother died though.”

Emma frowned, this new piece of information making her forget her anger and instead opening the door to a number of new possibilities. “That’s weird that he never mentioned it to me.”

“I guess it’s insignificant,” Belle replied, worried that Gold had wanted to keep this a secret but not knowing why he would have.

“He might be able to shed some light onto the case, do you think I should ask him about it?” The wheels in Emma’s head had already begun turning and it seemed awfully suspicious to her as to why Gold would keep this hidden.

“I don’t know Emma, I’m sure he would’ve mentioned right away if he had any suspicions.”

“I suppose,” Emma replied, seeing that Belle was beginning to panic and she really didn’t want to get her into any trouble. She would have to ask Regina how she knew Gold instead.

“Well, keep your head up, okay. I’m sure he’ll see the light and keep you guys on the case.” Belle said quickly and decided it was best to leave now before she put her foot in it any further.

Emma smiled, “thanks, Belle. I hope so.”

* * *

Regina was sitting at her usual table at the front of her favorite coffee shop. The place where she was seated offered her the perfect view of the outside world. She often sat here with her laptop open in front of her but today her laptop was at home, unfortunately, collecting dust atop of the desk in her study. She had called her editor earlier and had told him that she was taking some time off; he had assumed that she was going on holiday again like she had done the previous year and she didn’t have it in her to correct him so she just let him believe that; the reality of her situation being far, far worse.

Five minutes had passed before Emma entered the coffee shop; she noticed Regina straight away and headed towards her, taking the seat opposite the brunette once she had arrived at the table. “Hi,” she greeted; her usual smile noticeably absent. “Thanks for getting the drinks in,” she said and motioned down to where her coffee was sitting.

“You’re welcome,” Regina responded, the apprehension present on Emma’s face was beginning to cause her some worry. “Why was it that you wanted to meet?” She asked, her anxiety not being able to hold out any longer; she needed answers.

Emma shifted in her seat, she had been thinking about how best to inform Regina of the developments for the past hour yet she still didn’t know how to word it all. “There have been a few updates on your case. I thought it was best to tell you in person rather than over the phone.”

Regina knew these developments couldn’t be good, no news was ever good news if it required meeting in person. “It’s bad news then I presume.”

Emma glanced down, her eyes finding a stray crumb that was sitting on the table. “The Forensics team found a footprint which was left by your apple tree on Thursday night.” She looked up, curious brown eyes now burning into her own. “Unfortunately we were unable to gain any further evidence from that, the weather conditions prevented us from coming up with anything concrete.”

Regina felt a chill travel through her; she still hadn’t wrapped her head around the fact that someone had been watching her that night. She spent most of her time preoccupying herself with anything but her own thoughts, knowing that if she let them takeover then her mental health was sure to deteriorate. She digested the information for a second; it was just her luck that the weather would ruin any shot of catching this person. “Is there any other tests you can run?”

Emma shook her head, if there was anything at all that could move this case forward then she would have done it already. “There’s not I’m afraid.”

A sigh came from Regina, it seemed like she would never get her normal life back. She thought that after the police had got involved then they would be able to find this person straight away and she’d be able to carry on living her life like she had before without any unwanted intrusions, she was now seeing just how naïve and hopeful she had been. “Okay, was there anything else?”

Emma took a sip of her coffee and regretted it straight after when the hot liquid burnt her tongue. She frowned at the coffee and placed it back down on the table. She needed to stop stalling and just tell Regina what it was that she needed to tell her. “There may also be a change happening within your investigating team.”

“What do you mean?” Regina frowned.

Emma gazed out of the window, not wanting to meet Regina’s eye. She was distracted for a second by the simple domesticity of the family walking by outside. The sound of Regina’s coffee cup meeting the saucer below it brought her back to reality and she turned to look at her once again. “Earlier I was informed that myself, David and Ruby may possibly be reassigned and your case may be handed over to another team of detectives.”

Regina’s frown only deepened, “why would they reassign my case for?”

Emma shrugged; ‘because the DCI is an asshole’ she thought but didn’t dream of saying such a thing to Regina whose case ultimately was headed by him. “The DCI believes that we’re not moving fast enough. I’m hoping that he will reconsider. I just wanted to warn you in case it does happen.”

Regina tutted and crossed her arms over her chest. “If it does then I will be having words with your DCI. I don’t want my case being handed around like a game of pass the parcel.”

“I’m sorry, Regina.” Emma uttered as soon as she heard Regina’s voice begin to rise even if was only by a fraction. “I’m going to do everything I can do to make sure it doesn’t happen. And even if it does, I promise you that I will still continue to work on your case in my own time. I won’t just be letting this go.”

Regina swallowed, her anger seeming to diminish as soon as she saw that hopeful look in Emma’s eyes which somehow always managed to calm her. “I just can’t imagine anybody else working my case. I don’t _want_ anybody else working it.”

“Nor do I, believe me.” Emma smiled softly, she didn’t want Regina to be worrying about this and she was certain that whatever it was that Gold decided she would still very much be involved with what was happening, whether he liked it or not. “There’s something else, my DCI. DCI Robert Gold to be exact. Does his name ring a bell?”

Regina raised an eyebrow upon hearing the name. “Robert Gold. There’s a name I haven’t heard in a while. He used to be friends with my mother, they seemed very close after my father died, always going to events and parties together.” Regina paused, thinking back to the brief encounters that she had in the past with the man. “He always spoke down to me when I saw him but I never understood quite why. I can imagine he’s a real tyrant to work for.”

Emma nodded at that, Regina wasn’t wrong. “Do you think that maybe, possibly he could somehow be involved?”

Regina let out a small laugh and then took another sip of her drink. “With what’s happening? Not at all, it’s not his nature, he wouldn’t be hiding, and he would want to be seen. Besides, my mother died years before all of this started to happen. Why would you think that he may be involved?”

Emma hummed, again, Regina made a good point about Gold. “He just didn’t mention that he knew you.”

“That’s probably because he is aware of how much I despise him.”

“Is the feeling mutual?”

Regina thought back once again to all of her interactions with Gold, “I don’t think that he disliked me, he just always saw me as being in the way. A hurdle between himself and my mother. Of course, as soon as my mother passed I never saw him again.”

Emma nodded, “I guess he’s in the clear then.”

“That would’ve been some headline though if it turned out to be him.”

“Yeah. I wish it was him so your nightmare could be over,” Emma sighed; she couldn’t even imagine what Regina was going through.

“Me too,” Regina whispered and circled her index finger around the rim of her coffee cup losing herself for a moment in her own thoughts.

Emma watched Regina’s mannerisms, she seemed to be coping extremely well given the circumstances, she wondered just how well she coped at home though, when nobody else was around. “Has anything happened today? Have you had any calls or have you felt like you’re being watched?”

Regina removed her finger and looked up at Emma. “No calls. I don’t think that I’m being watched either but how would I possibly know?”

Emma knew that the question was rhetoric and each word was laced with sarcasm but she felt the need to answer it anyway. “Just be cautious. If there’s anybody you see frequently or if someone seems to stare for a little too long, look out for signs like that.”

Regina hadn’t expected a reply and she was surprised that Emma had actually provided her with a serious answer but then, she was a cop after all. “I’m going to be a paranoid freak by the end of this aren’t I?” She responded with a dry chuckle.

“I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.” Emma smiled softly and placed her hand on top of Regina’s and she left it there for quite some time before she removed it.

* * *

_They only had one chance so they had to get it right. They knew as soon as the cops found out that they had a key to her house then the first thing that they would do would be to get the locks changed. Regina rarely seemed to leave the house lately so it was pure luck that she left not long after they had arrived at their usual viewing point._

_They didn’t know where Regina was going or how long she’d be out for so they needed to be as quick as possible. Each day that passed was drawing closer to the end and every move they made was riskier than the last._

_It was easier than they thought it would be to get in, they had their key cut months ago so getting access inside wasn’t a problem. The risk lay in being spotted; they had to make sure they acted as casual as possible. Regina wasn’t close to any of her neighbors so none of them would think twice if they saw a stranger casually walk into her house. They would probably think that they were a member of the family, or a friend or even a lover. As long as they acted like they had nothing to hide then they would get away with it, and that was exactly what they did._

_The house was much bigger inside than they had expected it to be. They could usually only see through the windows and that only gave them a limited view of what was inside the house. They slipped their key back into their pocket and took their bag off of their shoulder; they needed to act quickly but carefully. So much as a fingerprint left behind could spoil it all._

_They made their way upstairs and through to Regina’s bedroom at the back of the house, they knew exactly what it was that they were looking for. Her closet was huge, obviously. They brushed their glove-covered hand over her perfectly dry cleaned dresses and looked for the one that they had their eye on. When they had found it they stuffed it into their bag and left the room in search of the next item._

_The other two items were harder to locate and it took them longer than they had expected it to take before they found them. They needed to hurry now, they planned on being out within ten minutes and it was quickly coming up to that time._

_They reached the kitchen and were distracted by a small rectangular card resting on the surface of the table. They read it with a grin. ‘Detective Inspector Emma Swan’ it said and then contained not one but two telephone numbers beneath the name. They tucked it away in their bag along with the other items; it was sure to come in handy._

_They placed a gift in the refrigerator for Regina and stuck their prewritten post-it note message onto the fridge door. They wished they could see her face when she received it but unfortunately, they would just have to imagine it, it was far too risky to stay hanging around there._

_They cautiously made their way back to the front door and peeked out of the window to make sure that nobody was looking. When they were satisfied that they would get away unnoticed they opened the door and made sure to leave it slightly ajar, that detail was sure to freak out Regina even more._

_They looked over their shoulder one last time smirking at the large house which they had so easily gotten into and then they were gone, back into the busy bustling streets of London town._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that I left it where I did! There's going to be a lot of big clues in the next chapter to who the stalker is but until then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	9. Some They Give, Some They Take

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is probably the creepiest chapter that I've written so far but there are a lot of clues mentioned here, particularly within the post-it note and the items that have been stolen. I'd love to hear some of your thoughts and I hope you like this one!

Regina had spent the majority of the drive home staring at Emma. She had started off by giving her shy glances every time that they stopped at a traffic light and somehow, without her even realizing, those glances had turned into gazes and then before she knew it her eyes had found a home on the blonde. “You really didn’t need to drive me back, Emma.” She said lazily, her head still rested on the back of her chair despite the car having now stopped outside of her house.

Emma, who had noticed Regina’s staring, smiled back at her. “I told you, I still have fifteen minutes of my lunch break left and I know you would much prefer to travel in my little yellow bug with my wonderful company than on some crowded, stuffy underground.” Emma raised an eyebrow playfully; she had pretty much insisted that she gave Regina a ride home, the time she spent with her being the only highlight of her day.

“I suppose your company isn’t so awful.” She smiled and instinctively leaned forward towards Emma before her brain caught up with her and she pulled away moments later. “Thank you for the lift.”

“You’re welcome.” Emma grinned back, resisting the urge to lean in closer to Regina the way she had just done to her. Emma’s eyes left Regina’s and settled onto the house outside, she marveled at the white building… “Regina?” She asked, her voice loud and panic laden. “Regina, did you lock your door when you left earlier?”

Regina looked at Emma, a panic of her own beginning to settle as she saw the fear on Emma’s face. She followed her gaze to the slightly open door. “I locked it. I always lock it.” She replied nervously and before she had even finished speaking Emma was already out of the car and running up her driveway.

She followed behind as fast as she could in her heeled boots. “What’s happening?” She whispered to herself, her feet slowing down as she became closer to the open door.

Emma had gone into full-on cop mode now and she had withdrawn her weapon from her jacket and was holding it cautiously at her side. “Hello?” She shouted inside the house, her eyes burning into the empty dining room.

Regina was standing hesitantly behind Emma, she was taking deep breathes and trying to stay as calm as she could which, given the situation was almost impossible for her to do.

After no answer and no noises coming from inside, she had concluded that the perp had left. She kept her weapon up and remained to shield Regina who had now turned extremely pale. She pulled out her phone with her free hand and called in for backup. She knew they would be there as soon as possible and until then all she had to do was look after Regina.

She turned to her, placing her baton back inside her jacket. “Regina?” She rested her hands on each of Regina’s shoulders. The look of terror still remained on the brunette and she knew that she had to get through to her and somehow calm her down. “Regina, look at me.”

Regina’s eyes had glazed over and it took all her strength to look away from the doorway and to Emma. “Are they inside?” She asked shakily, her eyes now darting between Emma and her dining room.

Emma spoke calmly even though her own heart was pounding at a hundred miles an hour. “I don’t think so. But I can’t be sure.” She said trying to keep Regina’s attention on her but having a tough job doing so.

Regina’s mind had taken over now and she had registered nothing that Emma had just said. “What have they done in there? Why are they here?” She asked, her words fumbling as they left her mouth. She pulled herself out of Emma’s grasp and moved closer to the door.

“Regina, Regina. You need to calm down.” Emma said, her hand still hovering beside Regina like a safety blanket.

Regina was so wrapped up in her own world that she still paid Emma very little attention. “Come out!” She shouted into the dining room and glared when nothing and nobody appeared.

“Regina please, back up is gonna be here shortly. We should wait over by the car.” Emma pointed and had half a mind to drag her over to where the car was parked.

This seemed to grab Regina’s attention and she turned away from her house and back to Emma. “No. I need to see who it is, Emma.” There was a desperate pleading to her voice; this was the closest she had gotten to finding out the identity of her tormentor. For months they were nothing more than an anonymous shadow distressing her and causing her endless amounts of anxiety. She wanted so badly to know who it was. She wanted so badly for this all to be over.

“Regina, I don’t think that they’re still here.”  Emma begun and was cut off by the sudden movement of Regina entering the house. “Regina, no!” Emma called after her, her feet instantly finding speed and pulling her toward the brunette.

“Who are you? Show yourself!” Regina shouted in every direction possible, the tug at her wrist from Emma resulting in an equally hard tug of her own. She ignored Emma’s pleading and continued on through her home, “What do you want from me?” She called out into thin air as she entered the living room, the detective behind her still telling her to leave.

Emma had fumbled for her baton but now she had it out and raised it in front of her trying to find the best angle in which to protect Regina. “We need to get out of here. We can’t touch anything.” Emma reiterated and tugged Regina’s arm once again trying to pull her back in the direction that they had just come from.

“Emma. Let go of me! This is my house.” Regina turned to face her, a petrified anger contorting her features.

“I know, I know. Just please wait outside with me until we know it’s safe.” Emma was practically begging now, she was rarely scared when she was out on the field but the fear she felt for Regina’s safety was almost unbearable.

Regina stopped in her tracks, her eyes piercing onto a small yellow piece of paper that was stuck on the door of her fridge. “What’s that?”

Emma’s head whipped between Regina, the front door and the kitchen where Regina was staring. “What’s what?” Emma asked, “Regina, come on. We need to leave this to the professionals.” The only thing that was on her mind was getting Regina out of there and letting her colleagues do a thorough check of the house.

“There’s something on my refrigerator door.” Regina trembled, her curiosity forcing her to walk closer to the unfamiliar object.

“We need to go outside.” Emma tugged at Regina, who, she soon found out, was surprisingly strong and her attempt at pulling her outside failed and instead she found herself being pulled in the opposite direction by the adrenaline filled woman.

Once they were in the kitchen Emma had gained her senses and had whipped herself in between Regina and the refrigerator door. “Please. We need to wait for back up. You have no idea what that is.” Emma stressed, her baton still hovering beside Regina to protect her if needs be.

“It’s a post-it note,” Regina responded solemnly and after a fight, she managed to wriggle her arm around Emma’s and retrieve said note.

 _‘Two hearts become one,_  
_What’s done is done,_  
_The past cannot lie_  
_Until one of us does die._  
_A gift from me to you,_  
_but can you guess who?’_

Regina froze and read the note again, this time Emma, too, managed to read it. “Regina, do not open that door.” She said sternly and she already knew that Regina was going to. The stubbornness of the brunette was one that could only be matched by her own.

Regina reached for the door but was cut off by Emma who had somehow managed to push her aside and was now standing squarely in front of the refrigerator. She glared at the blonde but allowed for her to open the door while she watched on from the side, her heart drumming with anticipation, curiosity and sheer terror.

After a brief second of hesitation, the door was flung open and a loud scream escaped from Regina. Emma lurched back; the sickening smell of rotting blood hitting them before they could even distinguish what it was that was in there.

Emma covered her nose and mouth with the sleeve of her jacket and took another look, attempting to figure out just what it was while Regina recoiled and held on to a chair in her kitchen to keep herself from passing out.

Sitting on a tray which took up an entire shelf in the fridge was a bloody, red mound the size of a baseball. It was surrounded in a pool of sticky crimson which overflowed out of the side of the tray creating a stream of rusty repulsion.

As she looked closer it soon became clear to Emma exactly what it was that she was looking at. She gagged and closed the door firmly shut. She kept her sleeve over her mouth, her baton dangling limply from her other hand. She turned to Regina who had somehow turned even paler than before. “Are you okay?” She asked, her voice muffled.

Regina just stared in response and continued to take long deep breathes. After a moment she stood up straight and made her way towards Emma who had now put away her baton and had one arm stretched out for Regina to take which she had gladly accepted.

Neither of them said anything as they practically ran outside, Regina’s eyes were wide and emotional and Emma was doing her best to remain as in control as she possibly could.

The fresh air was a welcome invitation and both of them seemed to gasp as the non-pungent air filled their lungs. Regina was leaning on Emma, her head resting on her shoulder. “What was that?” She whispered.

Emma took a moment to regain her composure, her arm was still wrapped tightly around Regina’s side and she was scared that Regina might fall if she were to let go. “I think, uhh, I think it was a heart. I’m guessing it was a heart of a small animal.” Emma stammered, in her line of work she had seen quite a few body parts but she always had time to gear herself up to it, this, on the other hand, came as a complete surprise to her, she was only thankful that the heart wasn’t human.  

“Why?” Was all that Regina could manage to say and she closed her eyes trying to rid the image that was now permanently embedded into her brain.

“I’ll figure it out,” Emma replied and she glanced down to Regina who looked so pained and fearful and so she turned her slightly and enveloped her into a hug. She could feel her trembling against her body and she hated that she felt so helpless. She rubbed her hand soothingly on Regina’s back and vowed to herself that she would catch this son of a bitch.

She wasn’t sure how long it was that they stayed that way for and they only separated when they heard the sound of sirens in the distance which was shortly followed by the screeching halt of tires braking on the road.

The rest was a blur to her; she stayed outside pacing and watching as police and forensics once again took over her house. She didn’t recognize many faces; she had seen David who had been as polite and friendly as always and the forensics team from before had also reappeared. Everything was moving so fast though and it was hard for her to even catch her breath.

She had told Emma to do what she had to but she had regretted that almost right away, without Emma by her side she felt alone again and with loneliness came vulnerability.

Emma was reeling; she had filled David in on everything and was now on the phone to Gold who was being as petulant as he always was. Forensics had thankfully gotten rid of the heart and sent it straight to the lab, and they were now dusting nearly all of the surfaces in Regina’s house for fingerprints. David and some other officers were assisting the Forensic team while also making sure that no other ‘gifts’ had been left.

Emma rolled her eyes once she had come off of the phone and David rushed over to her as soon as he saw her end the call. “He wants us to bring Regina in for questioning, headed up by you and Ruby.”

David frowned and glanced out of the window to where Regina was pacing outside. “It’s Ruby’s day off.”

“He’s called her in.” Emma huffed, if Regina was going to be questioned so shortly after this then she wanted to be the one to do it.

David looked back towards Emma, “why aren’t you questioning her?”

“God knows.” Emma rolled her eyes again, “he said he needs to talk to me privately. But before all that, we need to make sure that nothing’s been taken. How long are you guys gonna be?”

David looked around the room at the other officers who were all finishing off what they were doing, they had cleared every room and now it was just a case of packing up. “Should be done in ten.”

“Perfect, I’ll bring in Regina to have a look around.”

“Do you think she’s ready for that?” David asked, knowing how close Emma was with Regina, he knew that he could trust her to do what was in her best interests.

“I’ll ask her.”

* * *

Regina had wanted to say no, she had wanted to forget about this whole nightmare but she knew that if she didn’t cooperate then it was more likely that this sicko would get away with everything.

Everybody had left now; they seemed to have left just as quickly as they had arrived. David had told her that he’d see her soon and she didn’t entirely know what that had meant.

It was just her and Emma once again, and they were standing in her living room which no longer looked like her living room. Her furniture had been moved and there were strange paper markings in various areas of the room. “What is it exactly that I’m supposed to be looking for? Or not looking for?”

“Usually in cases like these items with personal value are taken. Something that you use a lot or that’s quite dear to you. Any family heirlooms perhaps?” Emma considered and watched Regina nervously; unsure as to whether Regina really was ‘fine’ with doing this now.

Regina nodded, still feeling a little distant from the reality of the moment.

“We can do this later if you’d prefer? There’s honestly no pressure.” Emma said as she took in the still very nervous form of Regina.

Regina shook her head and tried to look as if she wasn’t completely terrified. The thing she wanted most was to catch this person and so she’d do anything that she could to help speed along that process. “I’m fine to do this now. Where should we start?”

“I guess we should start in your bedroom if that’s alright? Bedrooms are typically the most personal rooms in the house.” Emma hoped that her perspective on the perp was correct, she knew very basic psychology, most of which she had picked up in the field. She could tell, though, that this perp had a deep fascination with Regina and therefore the bedroom seemed like the most logical starting point.

Regina’s bedroom, like the rest of her house, was decorated flawlessly, it had a sort of regal look which impressed Emma to no end; in any other circumstance, she would have complimented Regina’s taste but right now was certainly not the time. “Is everything how you left it?” Emma asked, her eyes glued to Regina, ready to get her out of the house at even the smallest sign that she was about to freak out.

Regina nodded and slowly begun to circle her bedroom, so far everything seemed to be in place. She checked her jewelry box expecting her diamonds to be one of the things that would likely to have been taken. “Everything seems to be in place.” She closed the box and turned around to face Emma. “At least they didn’t take my jewelry,” Regina said, meaning for it to come out sarcastically but instead it just sounded dejected.

And that sadness in Regina’s voice hit Emma a little harder than she had expected it to. She walked a little closer towards her; the more she saw the sorrow glistening in Regina’s eyes the more determined she became to catch this person. “It’ll be over soon, I promise.” She took Regina’s hand in hers and for a second she thought she could see a small smile grace Regina’s face but before she knew it, it was gone again and replaced with that frightened melancholy which she despised seeing so much.

Regina believed Emma, she really did. And she knew that Emma was doing everything she could to end this nightmare but the truth was it was getting worse and she feared that it would continue to worsen before it got any better. She squeezed Emma’s hand supportively before slowly dropping it. “I should check the closet.”

Emma nodded and followed closely behind Regina as they made their way to the other side of the room. Regina’s closet was possibly the biggest one she had ever seen which would make sense seeing as every time Emma had seen her she was wearing something completely different to what she had worn previously. She stood to the side and allowed for Regina to go through her clothes not wanting to intrude too much and feeling like she would be of little help even if she did.

“Emma?” Regina stopped fumbling through her clothes. “I think one of my dresses is missing.”

Emma rushed over to Regina’s side almost straight away, “are you sure?”

“Yes.” Regina nodded, “I know because it was the dress that I wore to my mother’s funeral. I’ve never worn it since.”

Emma bit her bottom lip nervously, this case again taking a turn for the worse when it came to creepiness. “Okay, I’ll make a note of that.” She pulled out her notepad and wrote down all of the details which Regina had told her about the dress.  “Anything else missing that you can tell?”

Regina shook her head, “everything else is accounted for, I think.” She closed the closet once she and Emma had walked out of it and turned her head toward the blonde, a frown etched on her forehead. “Why would they take that dress? I have more expensive ones.”

Emma paused, she didn’t want to creep Regina out any more than she already was but it was only a matter of time before Regina figured it all out anyway. “It’s not the money they care about; it goes a little deeper than that.”

“They stole it because of the sentimental value?”

“I think so, yeah.”

Regina frowned deeper, “how would they know I wore that? My mother’s funeral was a long time ago, long before this all started.”

“Are you sure that’s the only time that you wore it?” Emma asked, if Regina had only worn the dress that one time then it meant that the suspect list would be narrowed down to people who knew Regina’s mother or who at least, attended her funeral.

Regina nodded, “positive.”

“Do you remember who was at your mother’s funeral?”

Regina laughed dryly, her mother’s funeral had proved to be more of a media circus than a funeral and it was a day she would rather not remember. “My mother was loathed by many; practically the whole city was at her funeral.”

“Regina.” Emma looked at her seriously.

Regina looked to the ground, it seemed like she would have to start remembering that day, “I’ll try and recall some names.”

“Thank you.” Emma smiled softly and led the way out of the bedroom.

The rest of the rooms that they had searched proved to come up with very little. Regina had been unable to find anything missing and now they were left with one final room at the end of the corridor.

Regina hesitated at the door; she very rarely went into her parent’s old bedroom. Every time that she did she was exposed to a barrage of memories, some happy, some not so. The only time she would usually enter there was for mandatory cleaning purposes. Never had she been in the room with a guest, she glanced over her shoulder at Emma who was looking at her curiously. Instead of having to explain herself, she turned back around and opened the door.

The room looked the same as it always did, she was thankful that the police officers had left this room relatively untouched. “So it’s sentimental things that they’re after, isn’t it?”

Emma followed through into the room and tried once again to remain as un-intrusive as possible. She couldn’t imagine how hard this was for Regina. “Yeah, that’s what it seems like.” She replied, the seriousness of this case continuing to rise with every little detail that she found out.

“Then my mother’s jewelry box would be like Aladdin’s cave to them.” Regina headed straight to the large brown box which sat on an antique dressing table by the window. She rummaged inside, seeming to know exactly what to look for and then suddenly she stopped. “My mother’s locket is missing.”

Emma swallowed, “I’m sorry, Regina.” She made a note of the missing item, just in case it turned up even though she knew full well that it wouldn’t. Whoever had these items surely wouldn’t be letting them go in a hurry.

Regina huffed, not knowing whether the thief’s main motives were to hurt her or to feed some sort of sick fantasy they had with her. “I don’t understand who would want these things.”

Regina closed the jewelry box and walked over to her father’s beloved bookcase, she checked over his favorite titles and was relieved to realize that none of the books, which were mainly first edition, were missing. She looked down to the next shelf and realized right away what was missing from it, “the photo album.”

Emma made a note of the second missing item from the room, yet again it fitted with the ‘obsession’ theory that was currently being linked to the perp. “Just one missing? What pictures were in it?”

Regina thought back to the album, she hadn’t updated it in years or even looked at it for that matter. “We rarely took photos. It had life events, I don’t know. My parent's wedding, my graduation, my engagement party…”

“You, uh. You were engaged?” Emma asked, Regina had never mentioned that to her or to David and Ruby in her initial questioning session.

“Oh, yes.” Regina shrugged, she had almost forgotten about her past engagement. “We called it off a few months before the ceremony, things just weren’t right.”

“How long ago was that?”

“Before my mother’s death, I suppose it would be about five years ago in February.”

Emma felt her heart beating rapidly; could this be the person that she was after? “I’m going to need all the details about your ex-fiancé.”

Regina was still flaccid about the whole assumption; she doubted that her ex-fiancé had any involvement. “Robin would not be behind this. He is a kind man; it was a mutual break up.”

“Regina, please, it’s important,” Emma stressed, her phone already out of her pocket and ready to text David the details to track this Robin guy down.

Regina really didn’t know all that much about what Robin was up to nowadays, “I don’t know where he lives now; I think he moved up north.” She shrugged, she only knew that detail because she had rejected his friend request on social media not so long ago. His smiling face in his profile picture had haunted her for weeks after, how come he got to be so happy while she didn’t?

“I’ll get David to run his name through the system and find out what he’s up to.” Emma prompted, waiting expectantly for Regina to provide her with the information.

Regina gave in, “Robin Locksley.”

“Thank you.” Emma had typed the name so fast that she made about two typos which she had corrected straight after. She figured she should probably give David more information than just a name so she followed that text up with another one telling him to find out everything he could about Robin Locksley and to call him in if he found anything remotely suspicious.

Regina had lost herself in the thought of what could have been if she had married Robin; she imagined most things would have remained the same. She would have still been unhappy, lonely, except she’d also have the added burden of having to pretend to enjoy being in his company.

It wasn’t that she disliked him, he just bored her. She needed somebody who wasn’t afraid to tell her off when she was getting a little bitchy; somebody who would stick up for her even if she were in the wrong and somebody who could match her strong personality with one of their own, she needed someone like…

“Regina?” Emma called, breaking her out of her thoughts. “That was the last room. I hate to ask you but are you up for coming to the station for some mandatory questioning?”

Regina sighed, she hated being asked the same question over and over again, “will it help?” She asked somewhat foolishly, she already knew what the answer would be.

Emma nodded and gave her one of those goofy side smiles. “It would help a lot.”

“We should get going then,” Regina replied and followed Emma back downstairs, the other option was to stay here and that was the very last place that she wanted to be. She wondered if her house would ever feel like her home again, as of right now, she very much doubted it.


	10. Black Roses

Regina was sitting in the dull waiting room at the police station once again, it was busier this time and much, much noisier. Mary Margaret had left the front desk and had insisted on keeping her company until the detectives were ready to question her. Regina wondered just how much it was that she knew about the case.

“… And that is how I found out I was allergic to bee stings.” Mary Margaret concluded and shivered as she remembered her frightful tale.

Regina chuckled absentmindedly at the story that she hadn’t really been listening to and certainly hadn’t asked to hear. She knew Mary Margaret meant well and was trying to lighten her mood but honestly, she would rather sit there and wait in silence than having to make small talk with a practical stranger.

Thankfully, David and Ruby had chosen that very moment to walk through the double doors and call her name; a strange feeling of déjà vu coming back to her. Mary Margaret walked over to the detectives alongside her and gave David’s arm a gentle squeeze when she reached him. Regina’s brow rose as she witnessed the intimate display, she wasn’t entirely surprised by this revelation, Mary Margaret and David seemed to make a compatible pair.

“Regina, hi.” Ruby greeted, she was still a little grumpy about being called in on her Saturday off but in this job and at her rank, it was almost to be expected. “David and I are just going to ask you a few questions about today’s events, it shouldn’t take too long. If you’d just follow us, we can get started.”

Ruby had already started walking before Regina had the chance to reply and she found herself following the detective through the doors and down the corridor with David walking closely behind her. “I thought DI Swan would be questioning me?” She asked as she entered the interview room and took a seat.

David and Ruby shared a look before David shook his head. “Unfortunately DI Swan is in a meeting with the DCI but she’s briefed us on everything and we’re completely up to date on your case.”

Regina nodded, disappointedly. She felt comfortable talking to Emma about things and although both Ruby and David seemed nice enough and were both very efficient detectives, they just weren’t Emma.  “I see.”

There was a brief silence while Ruby set up the tape and David ordered his papers, Regina remained sitting, uncharacteristically slouched, her hands folded as they rested on the table. David cleared his throat and drew her full attention. “Okay, so we’re going to start off by telling you that your locks are currently being changed and someone is fixing your security camera as we speak. We’ll also be putting you under 24-hour police supervision until further notice but we’ll explain all that when we drop you off home later.”

Regina tried her best to take in all of that information; her life rapidly becoming that of one of a movie character. “How did they get a key to my house?” She asked, half asking herself and half putting the question out to the detectives.

Ruby glanced down at her paperwork before looking back toward Regina, they still hadn’t figured out just how that had been able to happen. “We believe they may have had a key cut somehow, we’re still looking into that.”

Regina shivered, this person was calculated, and she could see that now. She regretted not going to the police sooner. “Okay.” She uttered, not even wanting to imagine how they managed to get a key cut for themselves.

David looked at his notes, a small grimace escaping him. “Right, so the uh, organ that was left in your refrigerator; it’s currently being assessed in the lab but we can confirm that it was a pig’s heart.”

Regina’s eyes closed in shock, disgust and utter revulsion. “Why would anybody put that in my fridge?”

“We think it’s metaphorical,” Ruby stated, their main theory was that the heart they found in the fridge represented a heart that Regina had broken in the past. “Also, unfortunately, it’s not too difficult to get hold of such an organ. Most butcheries or farms would dispose of them quite sparingly.”

“So, you’re saying that this person is a jilted lover?” Regina asked, the concept that Emma had mentioned to her previously still not winning her over. She would have known, surely, if a previous spouse had been so obsessed with her?

David nodded, “well, yes. That’s our current route of inquiry.”

“Emma mentioned that you had a fiancé, a Robin Locksley. When was the last time that you heard from him?”

“I don’t know, we haven’t stayed in contact. How many exes do you stay in contact with?” Regina answered, she hated talking about Robin. As far as she was concerned, that relationship was in the past.

Ruby let out an amused huff, the first thing she did after a break up was block said person on all forms of social media. “We’ve traced Robin down to living in Manchester. Do you have any links to that city? Have you visited there recently?” She asked, Manchester wasn’t _that_ far away, about two and half hours on the train. It was possible that Robin could make that commute on a daily basis if he was so keen on tormenting Regina, which this perp certainly was.

Regina shook her head. “No, I’ve never even been there before.”

David scribbled Regina’s response down, “can you explain to us how you and Robin ended the relationship?”

“Things had started to become a little stale in the relationship.” Regina begun, her mind wandering back to the days of her supposedly picture perfect engagement. “We would work varying hours, I often had work that needed to be finished in the evening, he worked early mornings. It simply wasn’t working; it was amicable, there was no scandal.”

Ruby and David both nodded in response, they knew better than anybody that there were always two sides to each story. “You say it wasn’t working, did he agree with that view?” Ruby tilted her head to the side, wondering just how different Robin’s answers would be when faced with the same question. “Was it, ultimately, your decision to break up with Robin?”

“I’m sure he felt the same way as I did, he would have said otherwise. It was my initial decision but he had agreed that it would be better for us both if we were apart.” Regina stated, that had been what she had thought anyway, maybe she had got it all wrong though? How can you really know just what another person was really thinking? You couldn’t, you could only rely on the words that they were telling you and it was _so_ easy to lie.

Emma had been watching the interview from the other side of the dark glass window; she hated being stuck outside when she should be in there, getting involved. Robin Locksley was now their main suspect and she had called him in for an interview the next day despite it being a Sunday.

She sighed as she walked away from the window, her appointment with Gold was due to start in five minutes and if she were late he would be sure to hold it against her for the rest of the year.  She smiled at Belle who was already waiting for her outside of the office, she had probably been sent to get her.

“DCI Gold’s ready for you already,” Belle said, again not knowing why it was that Gold wanted to see Emma for.

Emma nodded and walked into the office for the second time that day, she wasn’t feeling nervous this time though; instead, she was feeling angry, that again, Gold was preventing her from spending time working on the case.  She sat down on the chair in front of him, feeling like a disobedient child who had been sent to the headmaster’s office.

Gold stared her down, the action being almost theatrical, before he changed his expression entirely and rested his chin on the palm of his hand, his elbow dug into the desk. “DI Swan, how are you?”

“I’m alright.” Emma looked at him suspiciously, in all the years she had worked with him she had never recalled him asking her how she was. “You?”

Gold ignored the pleasantries and got straight to the point that he had to make. “I’ve just come off of the phone with the Superintendent, he said that due to the most recent developments it would cause more harm than good to change the team working on the Mills case.”

Emma couldn’t hide the smile that covered her face; at least the Superintendent seemed to have sense. “So we get to stay working on it?”

Gold glared, hating that he hadn’t got his way. “That is correct but consider this your one chance, you _have_ to get results.”

“I understand Sir and we will,” Emma replied and was about to stand up to leave when Gold raised his index finger stopping her in her tracks.

“One more thing,” he added, “I was also wondering if you could help me get my head around something.”

Emma looked at him with a blank expression, wondering what it was that he was about to ask her. It was typical of Gold to bring something else up just when she had received some positive news. “Okay, I’ll try. What is it?”

“You were the one who called the incident in, why were you at Regina Mills’ house at that time?” He looked at her, with an eyebrow sardonically raised, knowing that he had caught her off guard with this line of investigation.

Shit. Emma nibbled her bottom lip as she tried to think of a way to get out of this predicament. “Oh, um, well I was just passing through the neighborhood…”

“DI Swan, do not even think about lying to me.” He raised his voice, loud enough to make Emma jump slightly.

She sighed; the truth was her only option. “I met up with Regina at lunch to fill her in on the case.”

Gold looked at her, trying to pick up on any body language which could prove that she was lying but failing to find any. He was suspicious of just how close Emma had gotten to Regina; the way she had acted when he threatened to take the case away from her causing him to begin questioning it. He had also overheard a certain conversation between Ruby and Belle about the lingering looks shared between his DI and their victim. “Hmm, you couldn’t have done that over the phone?”

“I felt like it would’ve been better to tell her in person,” Emma responded honestly, she had followed procedure, mostly.

“And how did you wind up back at her house?” He asked, trying his best to catch Emma out.

“I gave her a ride back like I would do with anybody else.” Emma shrugged, confident now that Gold really didn’t have a leg to stand on in this argument.

There was an awkward silence as Gold considered his next move. Ultimately, he really had nothing to flag Emma up on so he had no other option than to back down. “Fair enough, just know that I will be watching you and your team very closely. Now, haven’t you got some leads to be following?”

“Yes, Sir. Thank you.” Emma shot him a smile before walking out of the office triumphantly, now all she had to do was solve this case.

* * *

Regina was getting tired, both David and Ruby could see that so they were trying to get through all of their questions as quickly as possible all the while making sure that they got every single detail that they could.  “We’d like to ask you a few questions about the items taken if you don’t mind,” Ruby mentioned to which Regina nodded.

“DI Swan mentioned that the dress which was taken had only been worn once, to your mother’s funeral. Do you recall any attendees at the funeral at all? I know it was a while ago but any names would help.” David said, feeling guilty because each question that he asked seemed to drain Regina even more.

“A number of my mother’s old work colleagues, business people, a lot of people I wasn’t familiar with, I can write a list if that helps?”

“Please.” Ruby smiled softly and passed across a sheet of paper and a pen.

There was silence for a few minutes with the only sound heard being the one of Regina’s pen scribbling across the paper, she hadn’t come up with many names but there was a solid amount there; enough for David to crack a smile as he took the list from her. “Was Robin in attendance?”

“I… Yes, he was there. He wanted to pay his respects.” Regina had actually forgotten Robin’s presence at the funeral, it had been awkward and they had avoided each other most of the time other than the polite grievances he had sent her. He had left before the wake and she hadn’t thought anything else about it.

“Okay, lastly we just want to ask you about the locket. Did it belong to anybody else other than your mother?” Ruby asked.

Regina looked up from the desk to look at the two detectives. “It belonged to my Grandmother previously.”

Ruby and David nodded, confirming their suspicions that the locket was a family heirloom. They had finally reached the end of their questions and for Regina; it could not have come soon enough.

* * *

“How are you feeling?” Emma asked as she waited for Regina to buckle up. After missing out on the questioning, she had volunteered to drive Regina home.

Regina shrugged, not knowing really how to respond to that question. She was feeling such a mixture of emotions it was hard to pinpoint just one. “Exhausted,” she settled with and gazed out of the window watching the station getting smaller and smaller as they drove away.

Emma frowned slightly, sensing that Regina wasn’t giving her the full picture. “You know, I can be a pretty good listener. You can talk about it if you want?”

“No offense but talking about all this is the last thing I want to do after almost an hour of questions.” Regina replied, the words coming out a little harsher than she had intended.

Emma took her eyes off of the road and glanced over to Regina who was still staring absentmindedly out of the window. “I mean about how you’re feeling and stuff. Your mind must be going crazy about now.”

“You could say that.” She said dryly, “what was it your DCI said to you earlier?” Changing the subject seemed like the only way to distract Emma from her current line of interest and she was actually curious about what Robert had said to her.

“Oh, you heard about that, huh?” She looked over again at Regina while she sat at a red light and this time a small smile was resting on her lips, “Well, I’m pleased to say your case is remaining in my hands and we’re doing everything we can to get to the bottom of all this.”

Regina had turned away from the window once the surroundings had reached a standstill and was now facing Emma. “I’m glad you’re keeping it. I trust you.” She matched Emma’s smile with one of her own, genuinely pleased that Emma was still the one leading her case.

“Thank you, I won’t let you down.” She said, knowing that Regina trusted her made her feel happy and she was going to do her best to keep that trust. “Will you be alright staying at your house tonight? We can put you up at a hotel for a while if not but we won’t be able to provide police protection there.”

“What does this police protection entail exactly?”

Emma begun to tap her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel as the light shining in front of her remained red. “At least two officers at all times will be outside your house, they’ll check in every hour to make sure everything’s okay with you. They’re discreet and professional and it means you’ll be safe.” She smiled once again, knowing that that feeling of safety was possibly the thing that Regina wanted to feel the most at this time.

Regina nodded, the concept of being watched by police at all times was certainly not desirable but if it meant she could sleep peacefully then she would take it. “That sounds comforting, actually.”

“Yeah, they’re good guys.” Emma put her foot down on the accelerator as soon as the light changed color, hoping that Regina really was okay about returning to her house.

Regina was silent for the rest of the journey, her eyes dancing as they took in the objects which flew past her out of the window. She could feel Emma look over at her every so often and it made her smile to herself, it was nice having someone who cared.

Emma pulled up right outside Regina’s house. They were greeted by a number of uniformed officers who were going to explain in detail just how 24-hour police supervision worked and Emma planned on being at Regina’s side the whole time knowing how daunting it would sound to her.

“Ms. Mills?” Someone called from behind; Emma hadn’t recognized the voice and so instantly positioned herself in front of Regina.

“Ms. Mills?” The voice called again, it belonged to a woman of slim build with long hair tumbling down her shoulders.

“Are you Ms. Mills?” She asked Emma who was looking at her with a curious frown.

“I’m Detective Inspector Emma Swan, how can I help you?” She asked, her eyes glued to the large package in the woman’s hands.

“I’ve got a delivery for a Ms. Mills.” She said and pushed the package into Emma’s arms. The package on closer inspection was a bunch of flowers, black flowers to be precise, presumably roses.

“Who is this from? I need you to tell me everything you can about the person who ordered these flowers,” she said without even looking at the card that was attached, she already knew it was from the perp.

“I don’t know, some guy came into the shop and asked to hand deliver these to this address to Ms. Mills. He paid in cash and left a good tip so I didn’t bother asking anything else.” The woman said with a shrug looking a little alarmed by the sudden interrogation from Emma.

“What did he look like? What time was this?” She asked, annoyed that he had paid cash so she couldn’t trace the credit card. She was 99% sure it was who she was thinking it was.

“He was tallish, brown hair, stubble. And it was just before we closed, about 4:45.”

“Robin…” Emma whispered to herself still holding the flowers. “Do you have CCTV? I’ll need a clear image of him...”

“No, we don’t. Do you know how much that costs? Now can I go? I was meant to finish half an hour ago.” The woman asked and left swiftly once Emma had dismissed her. Emma cursed to herself, what kind of business didn’t have CCTV nowadays? It wasn’t like florists had a high crime rate but still; surely it was a basic staple for any business.

Regina who had remained closely behind Emma throughout the entire exchange was now staring at the parcel. “It’s from them isn’t it?” She asked.

“I think so.” Emma replied and dug inside the bunch of flowers to pull out the card which accompanied them.

“What does it say?” Regina asked, not being able to make out the small print on the card.

 _'The darkest of Rose_  
_From the one not chose,_  
_As time does close,_  
_It’s you that I’ll dispose.’_

Another silence filled the air. Regina was slowly and very frighteningly getting used to these warped death threats. And she was now, finally beginning to suspect that maybe it was shy, polite Robin who was behind all of this.

“I’ll take them in as evidence.” Emma whispered as two police officers came to assist by taking hold of the flowers and bagging up the card.

“Black roses; poetic.” Regina said with a lack of emotion in her voice. She took a deep breath and looked over towards her heavily manned house. This was all becoming far too much for her.

“You remember earlier, when you asked me how I felt?” She looked back at Emma who was waiting for her to continue, she took a deep breath before revealing her true feelings, ones that she hadn’t shared with anybody up until this point. Her eyes were filled with fresh tears which she had been holding back for too long, bottling up her emotions was all she knew but she knew she couldn’t do that any longer. “I’m terrified, Emma. Every time I close my eyes I see that vulgar, bloody heart. Every time I hear a noise, I jump out of my skin. If someone so much as looks at me the wrong way, my heart beat speeds up so fast I fear I might have a heart attack. I don’t know how much longer I can live like this.” She sniffed loudly, forcing back those tears which were still glistening in her eyes.

“Hey,” Emma placed each of her hands in Regina’s and looked at her directly. “You’ll be safe now, these guys won’t let anyone or anything inside, you’ll be safe.”

Regina allowed for a stray tear to fall; she had gone past the stage of concealing her pain at this point. “Emma, I can’t...” she whispered, her words so quiet that Emma had to lean in to hear them.

“Regina, you’re so strong. You can get through this. I promise you.” She let go of her hands and pulled her into a hug not caring if any of the other officers saw her.

Regina stopped tensing up when she felt Emma close to her, she let tear after tear fall and she sobbed softly into Emma's arms. She could hear Emma shushing her and telling her that things would be okay and she held onto those words with every ounce of hope that she could.

“I’ll find them. I promise you I’m gonna find them.” Emma whispered into her ear, she knew she wasn’t supposed to make promises on the job but it was one that she planned on keeping. She continued comforting Regina and still kept her in her arms even when she had stopped crying.

Regina remained gripped onto Emma so tightly that she was beginning to worry that she may be squashing her but Emma didn’t seem to mind if she was because she was gripping on just as tightly. She wished she could stay like this forever, just the two of them away from this mess, this tangible nightmare that she couldn’t escape from. Her eyes were closed so compactly now and it reminded her of when she was a little girl, closing her eyes and making a wish; the wish never came true but she always believed that it would.

An officer cleared his throat and Regina and Emma were broken apart once again. Emma remained close though, one hand still linked with Regina’s. She whispered to the officer, asking for him to give them a minute and he nodded and left them to wait by the house.

Regina wiped her eyes with her free hand and tried to muster up that ‘I’m fine’ stance that she usually maintained. “Here.” Emma said and planted two silver door keys into Regina’s free palm. “Front and back. They’re brand new and it takes a really special kind of machine to be able to cut them. The only copies are these and the ones that we keep while on duty.”

Regina glanced down into her hand, the metallic glare of the keys causing her to look away almost immediately. “It’s Robin, isn’t it?” She whispered almost inaudibly, how could she have read the situation with him so wrong?

Emma knew she couldn’t confirm nor deny. “We’re questioning him first thing in the morning, as soon as his train gets to town.”

Regina just nodded, “and you’re sure nothing or no one can find its way into my house?”

“I swear,” Emma replied and stroked her thumb gently over the back of Regina’s hand. “I’ll text you at least once an hour, I’m not gonna let you get lonely either.” She smiled softly, wishing that she could be the one to stay with Regina.

“I’d like that,” Regina said and even managed to portray something that might resemble a smile.

Emma glanced over at the police officer by the door and gave him a nod. “This is Kristoff, he’s gonna show us what’s what and tell us all the rules.” She gave Regina’s hand another squeeze and gently pulled her in the direction of Kristoff.

Regina swallowed, not knowing how she should be feeling at this point. She trusted Emma though and so she followed her; at least if she were under police protection then she would be safe, right?

* * *

_The dress hung in the corner of their room, crease-free and noticeably out of place against the dank surroundings. The gentle hum of Symphony No. 40 could be heard echoing from an old stereo in the corner of the room. They put out their cigarette sharply and began to leaf through the pristinely kept photo album._

_Beaming smiles looked up at them and they had to try their best not to rip those smiles to shreds. The happiness that was displayed made them sick. Family life was evident as picture after picture showed the three of them, mother, father, and daughter in harmony._

_The album read like a chronological report of Regina’s life. There was birthday after birthday, Christmases, Graduations, everything that they had missed out on seeing._

_The last photo was the Engagement photo. Regina stood beside him, a wide red smile hanging off of her lips. She was wearing a blue dress, the waist pulled in by a thin black belt; her silhouette looked flawless just like everything else in that photograph did._

_They took hold of a pair of scissors which were sitting nearby and sliced through the happy image. They gripped onto the photo which was now solely of Regina and let the other half tumble to the ground._

_With a driven force, they pinned Regina’s smiling face to the wall, their eyes burning into her with a heated hatred. “Not long now, Regina.” They whispered and wrapped their fingers around the garnet-colored stone which hung on the front of the locket around their neck. “Not long at all…”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thank you for the feedback! Can we all send Regina hugs now, please?


	11. Framed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, I just wanted to say thank you so much for all the feedback on the last chapter and it's really killing me that I can't reveal all to you just yet but worry not, in a few chapters time it'll kick off and revelations will occur. I'd like to wish you all a happy Halloween and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Sunday 6th November.

Emma walked into the office carrying a huge cup of takeaway coffee in one hand and her phone in the other. Sundays in the office were always quiet however today seemed to be the exception to that norm. The severity of Regina’s case had risen tremendously and so Gold had allowed for every detective on the case to be working overtime which pleased Emma because she needed all of the help that she could get.

She placed her coffee cup down onto her desk and sat down on her chair, placing her phone face up beside her in case Regina texted her. She frowned as she saw a single letter sitting atop her paperwork addressed solely to ‘Detective Inspector Emma Swan’, no address, stamp or postmark in sight. Unusual.

She looked around the office and caught David’s eye, “Mary Margaret found it at the front office, I told her to put it on your desk.” He called over to her from across the room, knowing that the curious letter would be what Emma was going to ask him about had he not explained.

“It was just sitting at the front desk?” She asked, puzzled.

“Yeah, not sure how long it was there for.” David shrugged and returned to his work, he had a million phone calls to make and he and Ruby needed to be at the laboratory by midday.

Emma returned her focus to the letter in front of her, hoping that it was an anonymous tip-off or something that could help her with the case. She frowned once again at the conspicuously typed line on the envelope; it certainly looked like a tip-off.

She tore it open as carefully as she could, pulled out the single sheet of paper inside of it and read the message which was written using the Times New Roman font and was so large that it took up the entire A4 sheet.

 _‘If this case,_  
_you do not leave,_  
_then it won’t be just Regina,_  
_that people will grieve.’_

“Son of a bitch,” she said under her breath, not wanting anybody else to hear her. She had to do everything that she could not to screw the letter up into a ball and toss it into the bin; instead, she gritted her teeth and grabbed an empty evidence bag from her desk drawer. She carefully bagged up the letter and envelope and placed it into the drawer.

“What was that letter about then?” David called across to her, noticing that she had been quiet for a quite a while now.

“Oh, nothing. Just a forwarding address I asked a previous victim to leave for me.” She lied as coolly as she could, knowing that if she told David the truth it would be his job to investigate the letter and she would more than likely be taken off of the case due to the perp knowing who she was and sending her a threat. There was no chance that she would even risk being taken off this case again, especially now, so this was something she was going to be keeping to herself.

David seemed to believe the lie and went back to making his phone calls. She tried to forget about the letter sitting in her drawer; Robin Locksley was going to arrive in less than fifteen minutes and she needed to focus exclusively on questioning her number one suspect.

Before that, though, she planned on taking a look at the CCTV cameras, with any luck she’d be able to see the person that dropped off this letter to the station and if she could then she would’ve caught the perp red-handed.

The camera room was empty, the guys who usually worked there wouldn’t be in until another hour which gave her enough time to have a look for herself and not be asked any annoying questions. She knew the letter must have been dropped off sometime when Mary Margaret hadn’t been working the front desk so she rewound the tape back to 6 pm, the time that Mary Margaret’s shift the previous day had finished.

It didn’t take her long to find the culprit, the letter being handed in at around 7.30 last night. Unfortunately, this perp was clever and so instead of handing it in themselves they had gotten someone else to do it for them, this person being a child of around seven or eight years old. Emma slammed her fist on to the desk; she should’ve known this was going to happen. The perp more than likely paid the kid to drop the letter off with no questions asked and from the looks of the tape that is exactly what they had done.

* * *

Robin was sitting awkwardly in the interview room and he had picked up a habit of folding and unfolding his arms multiple times. Emma had spotted this and had come to the conclusion that he was either very nervous or very guilty.

Emma had already been interviewing Robin for fifteen minutes now and she had still received very little useful information from him, in fact, she was surprised that he hadn’t asked for his lawyer yet. “So Robin, tell me about your relationship with Regina.”

Robin shifted uncomfortably, he could feel the tension growing within the room, he wasn’t used to having accusations being thrown at him and he had already regretted agreeing to come here. “We dated for a couple of years, it was going well or so I thought.”

“So she dumped you?” Emma deadpanned, a slight pang of jealousy hitting her every time she looked at the man sitting in front of her.

Robin was taken by surprise by Emma’s bluntness but didn’t call her out on it; “um, yeah, yeah she did.”

“And you didn’t like that, did you?” Emma asked and suddenly stood up from her chair and started to pace in front of the intimidated suspect.

“I didn’t but I didn’t want her to be unhappy either,” Robin rationalized.

Emma tried another tactic to try and break Robin and leaned down on to the table, her face moving closer to him so their eyes locked. “So you thought you’d teach her a lesson, didn’t you, Robin?”

Instinctively Robin leaned backward. “What? No, I don’t know what you mean. I would never hurt Regina.”

“You’ve seen those letters that I’ve just shown you, consider yourself to be a poet, do you?” She spat, her eyes burning into his until he looked away.

“I told you I’ve never seen those before. I didn’t write those, I could never...”

“Where is it you live now?” Emma cut him off, becoming bored by his continuous denial and taking the interview into another direction.

“Rochdale, Manchester.” He answered, a little flustered by the sudden change in topic.

“And how often do you visit London?” Emma pulled herself back up to a standing position but was sure to keep her eyes glued to him, determined to spot any change in body language that he might make.

“Not very, I prefer Manchester, there’s more countryside up there.”

Emma placed her hands on her hips; she was trying her best not to fly off the handle. “So you weren’t in London at all this week?”

“No, this is the first time I’ve been to London in years.” Robin was looking down at the table now, the anger in Emma’s eyes making him feel even more uncomfortable than before.

“Where were you on Thursday 3rd November?”

“I was at home.”

“Can anyone confirm that?” Emma pressed.

He nodded before adding confidently, “my wife, Marian.”

Robin was answering these questions very naturally and this was beginning to make Emma question things, could it be that Robin was a skilled liar or could it be that he really was innocent? “What about yesterday lunchtime?”

“I took my son Roland to the park, we fed the ducks and then we went to the cinema.”

“I’ll be checking those alibis to make sure you’re telling the truth.” She replied angrily, she would have to prove that his alibis didn’t hold up or it would end up being extremely hard to keep him in custody.

Robin could see the noticeable slump in Emma’s shoulders and he let out a small breath of relief. “Go ahead, like I said I would never hurt Regina. I have a new life now, a wife, a family.”

* * *

Emma left Robin in the interview room; this interview had not gone the way that she wanted it to. The timeline of events wasn’t cooperating with her Robin theory and if his alibis checked out and he was in Manchester when he said he was then she would have no other option than to let him go.

She had just finished making a call to a friend she has at the police station in Manchester and they were already checking up on Robin’s past whereabouts. She raised her palm to her temples feeling a migraine coming on; it seemed that maybe Robin wasn’t quite as guilty as she first thought.

Emma walked into the office and was greeted by David and Ruby who were standing at her desk, paperwork in hand and neither one of them looking entirely thrilled. “Please don’t give me any more bad news.” She groaned as she reached her desk.

David and Ruby both looked to the ground, not wanting to be the one to put Emma in an even worse mood than she apparently was already in, the interview with Robin obviously not going how she wanted it to.

“So we have a few details about the pig’s heart…” Ruby handed her paperwork over to Emma to look over while she explained. “Forensics said that it’s probably been out of the animal for a few months meaning that the perp had been keeping it for a while before they had delivered it to Regina.”

“Marco said it had been kept quite well so maybe this perp knows about biology?” David questioned, trying to be helpful.

“Do we know where it came from?” Emma asked flipping the paperwork over trying to find a location, if they could narrow down where this heart came from then they could narrow down the perp’s previous whereabouts.

“Unfortunately there was nothing distinguishable about this organ so it could have come from anywhere…” Ruby let her sentence drift off knowing this was the news that Emma didn’t want to hear. “We’re still gonna call around local farms and research centers to see if they’ve had anyone ask for a single pigs heart.”

“Okay.” Emma sighed, “Thanks anyway guys. Surely we gotta catch a break sooner or later.” If she was a quitter she would’ve given up by now but she wasn’t and she was not going to let this case remain unsolved.

“How did the interview with Robin go?”

“Awfully. I’m getting his alibis checked at the moment otherwise I’ve got nothing to hold him on.”

David frowned, “there must be something that we’re missing.”

“With Robin or?” Ruby asked, Robin had been their only solid lead so far and all the evidence seemed to point towards him; however none of the evidence provided proof that it _was_ him.

“You guys think it’s someone else?” Emma asked, she had been so convinced that it was Robin that she hadn’t even begun to think of anyone else. Thinking about it though, Robin couldn’t have been the one to get that kid to deliver her letter; he wouldn't have even been in London at that time. “Shit. It’s not him, is it?”

* * *

Emma was in the bathroom, pacing up and down angrily with her fists clenched at either one of her sides. She had just got confirmation from Manchester Police that Robin’s alibis had all checked out, she had also been sent over CCTV footage of Robin on the train this morning confirming that none of this was him. She had no other option but to release him with her sincerest apologies and refund his travel fares hoping that he wouldn’t want to make a complaint against her.

Her mind was racing thinking of all the possible suspects, they seemed to have eliminated so many and yet still were no closer to finding the culprit. Typically, a case such as this one would have been solved by now. David was right, there had to be something big that they were missing, there had to be a reason for this person to be so obsessed with Regina.

She walked over to the sink and rested her palms on the cool surface, her head hanging as she tried to relieve some of the stress which had rapidly built up inside her. She was foolish to waste so much time thinking it was Robin; she was so convinced that it was him that she was blind to the option of it being anyone else and that attitude and way of working had completely backfired on her. She had completely wasted her own time, her detectives’ time and a bunch of resources all because of her blind sightedness.

“Fuck!” She yelled and before she could control her temper her fist had already crashed into the mirror in front of her. She shook her hand out, the blood streaming down from her knuckles and down to her wrist, the stinging pain taking her mind off of her mistakes for a moment.

Ruby, whose desk was near the bathroom had heard Emma shout and had left her paperwork to see what was going on. Her eyes widened as soon as she saw the state of Emma’s hand. “Em, come on.” She rushed over to her and took hold of her hand to examine it.

“Ruby, you don’t need to be here,” Emma sulked, she hated people to see her like this, she preferred to blow off steam in private and then return in a better mood.

“I _do_ need to be here.” Ruby turned on the tap and pulled Emma’s hand under it, receiving a wince from Emma as the water met her injury. “Mary Margaret has a first aid kit at reception. I’ll take you there after I’ve cleaned you up.”

Emma took a calming breath as her knuckles begun to sting even more, “It’s not even that bad.”

Ruby rolled her eyes; Emma could get shot and still insist that her injuries were not a big deal. “You gonna tell me what this is all about?”

Emma took her eyes away from the bloody water that was washing down the drain and looked over to Ruby shamefully, “I fucked up. I messed up everything.”

“We all thought Robin was guilty, you weren’t to know. You can’t blame yourself.” Ruby smiled softly towards Emma, she always took cases so personally and this one was perhaps the most personal one of all. “Now we gotta focus on catching the real villain.”

Emma smiled back, Ruby’s use of the ‘we’ pronoun reminding her that they were a team which she sometimes forgot. “I have no idea where we can even begin with that.”

Ruby hummed for a second trying to think of any theories which they hadn’t already exhausted but she came up blank. “We’ll figure it out, we know that it’s not Robin now, this is huge. It means that all the motives we believed to be true aren’t so we can just wipe all that away and start over, like a fresh new case.”

“Yeah, that’s not sounding so great.” Emma chuckled dryly at Ruby’s attempt of positivity, “but you’re right about the motives thing, we need to start looking at this all differently.”

Ruby nodded, glad that she had gotten Emma out of her self-blaming rut, “and we will, this case ain’t gonna beat us, not a chance!”

Emma smiled before her mind wandered back to Regina as it often did, “I don’t know how Regina’s gonna cope though, she’s already totally freaked out.”

“She’ll be okay, Emma. She’s got protection for as long as she needs it.”

“She’s physically okay but mentally… She’s not in a good place Rubes.” Emma was worried about Regina, she had spent the whole night thinking about how she was holding up and making sure that the policemen watching her were keeping her updated at every check-in. She had also been texting her nonstop, Regina had been vague in her messages but then, Regina wasn’t the kind of person who would spill out her feelings via text message.

“We could get her a psychiatrist, someone to check up on her,” Ruby suggested.

“She just needs someone to talk to; I know what it’s like to have nobody around, y’know.” 

Ruby raised an eyebrow as an idea popped into her head, “you should take her out tomorrow.”

Emma looked at Ruby as if she had just grown another head, “What? Are you insane?”

“No, actually.” Ruby replied and started to rub some of the tougher blood stains off of Emma’s hand. “It’ll do you both good; just make sure that you don’t talk about the case because, God knows, you both need a break from it.”

“Gold would kill me.” She shook her head at the thought of Gold finding out.

“He wouldn’t know, uniform never speak to him and I won’t tell anyone, I swear.” Ruby assessed, making her idea sound like the easiest thing in the whole world.

“Not even David?” Emma rose an eyebrow, “or Belle?”

“Well, maybe Dave but you can trust him. And well, Belle’s engaged now so…” Ruby continued to clean Emma’s hand despite it now being clean.

“I’m sorry about Belle; I know you guys had a thing.” Emma had accidentally walked in on the two kissing in the photocopying room a while back and Ruby had sworn her to secrecy. From then on Ruby and Belle had remained strictly on friendship terms, fearing that all Hell would break loose if Gold ever found out that Belle had had a fling with Ruby while she was still with him.

“It’s cool, we’re better as friends.” Ruby shrugged, they really were better as friends but she still missed her from time to time. She turned off the tap and held up Emma’s hand to her eye level. “Okay, that looks better but you’re still gonna need it bandaged.”

“Thanks, Ruby.” Emma smiled and retrieved her hand once Ruby had finished inspecting it.

“No problem, now let’s get you to Mary Margaret and then we’re gonna go to the conference room and discuss everything we’ve got so far with a clear mind.” Ruby led the way out of the bathroom, wiping her hand on her shirt as she held the door open with her shoulder.

Emma glanced back over her shoulder as she exited the room, “what about the mirror?”

“I’ll sort that; now give me your phone.” Ruby’s hand was outstretched already waiting for Emma to comply.

“What? Why?” She asked but handed her phone over nonetheless.

“I’m texting Regina to tell her you’ll be taking her out tomorrow night. Don’t even think about arguing with me about it.”

Emma smiled, “I wouldn’t dare.”

* * *

Being cooped up in her house was exactly as boring as she had thought it would be. She had resorted to cleaning the house to pass the time which had worked for a couple of hours until everything was clean and then she was back to staring blankly at her phone again, looking forward to the moment it would buzz with a message from Emma.

She was just about to attempt to get into a novel again when she heard that buzz echoing through the room.

_‘I’m taking you out for dinner tomorrow, just the two of us. Strictly no case talk, we’ll leave the cops outside, what d’ya say?’_

Regina certainly was not expecting that message and she couldn’t help but read over it a couple of times, the smile on her face growing wider each time that she did so.

_‘I knew you’d be the first to break the rules but yes, I would like that a lot.’_

Regina was still smiling, she had something to look forward to now and she got to leave the house whilst still feeling safe.

She placed her phone back down and noticed the time. She’d be expecting a knock on the door at any second from the police officers waiting outside. She had gotten used to it now, and was open to letting them look around her house, use her bathroom and drink her tea; it was a small sacrifice to make if it meant that she could remain living in her house without feeling threatened.

* * *

_This whole police watch thing was not something that they had pre-empted. It was a nuisance and something which definitely caused a problem in their future plan. They had spent most of the day figuring out how to get around this current dilemma and they now knew exactly how they were going to do so, nothing was going to stand in their way, especially not some lazy, dim-witted uniform police officers._

_They also hadn’t planned on sending the detective a letter but after finding that card in Regina’s house they simply couldn’t resist. It was easy enough for them to find a random child to do their dirty work for them, children were easy to manipulate, just give them a ten pound note and they’d do practically anything. They didn’t know what to expect after the letter had been delivered though and they were disappointed that so far nothing had happened._

_It seemed that their plan on framing Robin Locksley had also been successful, the last thing they saw at the station was Robin being greeted by Emma Swan, she had a face like thunder and it was clear to see that she already suspected that he was guilty._

_They had always planned on framing somebody and Robin worked perfectly. He had the past ties with Regina and from what they had found out about him on social media, he seemed to be the sort of person who fell in love far too easily. And they weren’t wrong; the police were all over him like a rash which meant they were safe, for now._

_They pulled out a photo from the photo album which was still lying open on the table; there were so many photographs of her, they were running out of space on the wall to hang them all. They preferred these pictures though to the ones that they had taken themselves, their ones were often blurry or Regina wasn’t facing them front on._

_They had another chance tomorrow of getting some clearer photos though. They had already hacked into Emma’s mobile phone and they were glad that they did because she was messaging Regina constantly; this way they could keep up with the case as well as the whereabouts of both Regina and Emma Swan._

_Tomorrow was going to be a good day, they could feel it. And after tomorrow it was the day that they had been waiting for for so long. It was the day when they were going to finally beat Regina Mills._


	12. Just The Two Of Us?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some mandatory fluff before the next chapter :)

Monday 7th November.

Mid-afternoon was often the time when Emma felt the most tired, if only she were a kid again and it was acceptable for her to take afternoon naps. Instead, she relied on the bitter coffee from the station’s canteen to keep her awake.

The day had been productive so far, she had given the squad a briefing about the updates to Regina’s case. They were now going in a completely different direction altogether. After Robin was found to be innocent they had begun to extract every detail of evidence with a fine tooth comb and a new rule was enforced that they make no insinuations whatsoever.

She had given each of her detectives’ time to come up with their own ideas and theories and then they had discussed them together, that way it prevented any blind sightedness from either herself or anybody else.

They had come to the conclusion that Regina’s tormentor had also been the one trying to set up Robin, for what reason, is still unknown.

The new line of inquiry was now that of Cora Mills. They were now working to find ties to Cora, her death meaning that that was extremely difficult. David had mentioned that due to Cora’s death, Regina would be the closest person to her that was alive. If this perp wanted revenge on Cora then Regina would be the only way that they could get it.

David’s hypothesis had been backed up by the missing dress; Cora’s missing locket and the missing photo album which contained many photographs of the deceased Mills. They had also suspected that the pig’s heart could’ve represented one of her former lovers and it certainly seemed that she had had quite a few.

Emma would need to ask Regina more about her mother, however, their assumption was still just that, an assumption, and she didn’t want to give Regina any false hope as she had done before with the Robin theory. Instead, she would, unfortunately, be keeping this inquiry as enclosed as possible.

“Are you ready for your date?” Ruby whispered into Emma’s ear, appearing from nowhere.

“It’s not a date,” Emma whispered back, not wanting anyone to overhear.

Ruby grinned, “Have you decided where you’re taking her yet?”

“I’ve had other things to think about,” Emma gestured with her hand towards the case files on her desk.

“You know all the good places get booked up in advance. You don’t wanna be stuck on a McDonald's date.”

“It’s a Monday; loads of places will be available.” Emma shrugged and tried not to laugh as she imagined what Regina’s face would be like if she did take her to McDonald's.

Ruby’s jaw dropped as if Emma had just said the most shocking thing that she had ever heard, she then shook her head and sighed, “Okay, you really have been away from the dating scene for too long. Luckily, I’ve made reservations for you both at that new place in Soho.”

“Thanks, Ruby. You’re a lifesaver.” Emma smiled earnestly, making a mental note to text Regina and inform her of where it was that she was taking her.

“Table’s booked for 7; remember to fill me in on all the details.” Ruby waggled her eyebrows jokingly before returning back to her desk, she was possibly just as excited as Emma was for this non-date date.

* * *

Storybrooke was a much more modern restaurant than Regina had imagined, it certainly wouldn’t be the kind of place that she’d thought that Emma would choose. She liked the pun of the name and the décor was that of classic fairy tales with a modern day twist, each dish, and entrée named after a well-known character or tale. It was clever, although she couldn’t help but feel the idea would be better aimed towards children, but what did she really know about the restaurant industry?

Regina took a sip from her Snow-White-Wine and watched Emma closely as her eyes darted across the room. They had been repeating that same action ever since they had arrived five minutes ago and every time that a new person walked into the restaurant Emma would give them a solid thirty-second scrutiny from where she was sitting.

Regina swallowed, she appreciated Emma’s wariness but she did, more than ever, want to take her mind off of her situation. “I don’t think that they’d come in here and attack me in front of all these people, especially not with you here.” She said quietly, her hand stretching over the table to Emma’s and ceasing it from tapping. She frowned as she felt the bandage covering her palm wondering how Emma got such an injury.

Emma looked back at Regina, “you can never be too careful.” She looked down to their now linked hands; maybe she could tone it down a notch. “I’m sorry; this must be no fun for you. I just don’t want anything to happen when we’re breaking the rules.” She whispered the last part with a grin, allowing her more playful side to come out.

“I forgive you, now are you going to tell me what happened to your hand?” She asked, her thumb drawing patterns across the covering.

Emma bit her bottom lip, thinking about lying and saying she got the wound from going overboard at boxing but instead she decided on telling the truth. “I, uh, I got a little angry and somehow, um, my fist found the mirror.” She looked down, suddenly embarrassed by her admission.

“Emma…” Regina waited until Emma was looking at her again before she continued, “If you ever feel like doing something like that again; hurting yourself, then please call me or come and see me.”

Emma nodded and laced her fingers carefully through Regina’s. “I will,” a small smile approached, no one had ever said anything like that to her before. She had always lashed out when she was angry and usually she’d just be told she was being stupid and not to do it again. “Thank you.”

Regina gave a heartfelt smile, she really did care about Emma and it surprised her just how much. Usually, it took her a while to feel anything towards another person but with Emma it had come almost instantly and she was both excited and a little worried about how their relationship was going to progress in the future. She cleared her throat and glanced down to the menu which had been sitting open in front of her since they had arrived. “What are you thinking of ordering?”

“I don’t know, which one is just a cheeseburger and chips?” Emma’s eyebrows furrowed as she tried to make out the almost coded menu.

“I think that would be ‘The Boy who wanted more Cheese (burger)’.” Regina laughed, shaking her head at the ridiculous names on the menu. “This place is certainly unique, how did you hear of it?”

Emma laughed with Regina; she really wasn’t feeling the names of the menu either. “Ruby actually picked it out for us.”

Regina raised a brow, “Oh, does she know of our situation?”

“Kinda, this was actually her idea. She and David are covering for me; they’ve always had this weird obsession with my dating life.” Emma chuckled, grateful that Ruby had suggested this and even went as far as booking the restaurant for her.

“They seem like good friends to have,” Regina smiled, missing that sense of friendship, she used to have something similar with Kathryn but now they had drifted so far apart that she hadn’t even told her about what was happening.

“They are,” Emma said, “annoying as they can be sometimes; I dunno what I’d do without them.”

A moment later the waiter approached, dressed like the Pied Piper which caused an awkward ‘trying not to laugh’ moment between both Regina and Emma as he took their orders. The conversation remained light and was only drawn to a close when their food arrived; Emma settling for the burger and Regina choosing the healthier option of the ‘Chicken Little Salad’.

Emma took a big bite into her burger, it was better than she had expected, the name making her slightly cautious when really there was no need to be. “So, tell me more about you, your childhood, what was it like growing up in Holland Park?” She asked once she had finished her mouthful.

Regina stabbed a piece of chicken with her fork, “I guarantee it wasn’t as glamorous as you’d think. I was actually a bit of an outsider growing up.”

Emma frowned, she had imagined Regina’s childhood to be some wonderful experience filled with gold-plated dolls and posh talking tutors. “Really? How come?”

“My mother only allowed for me to play with certain children, ones that came from the wealthiest families. It became painfully obvious what she was doing especially at school. The teachers seemed to think that I shared that same view and so did many of the other children, I assume their own parents had told them that.”

“That sucks; school kids can be really mean.” Emma sympathized, school certainly wasn’t her favorite memory either.

Regina shook her head softly, sometimes she regretted how obedient she was and that she never really rebelled against her mother’s strict regime. “She also only allowed me out of the house for a few hours on a Saturday afternoon, the rest of the weekend I would spend perfecting my piano skills, Latin and any other ‘hobby’ she thought would be worthwhile.”

Emma grimaced, it sounded like Regina never really had a chance to just be a kid. She hesitated, wanting to ask more about Cora but not wanting this dinner to turn into a fishing expedition. She knew David and Ruby were researching Regina’s mother as they spoke and so she settled with just continuing the conversation, her ulterior motives being dropped. “Your mother sounds tough, that couldn’t have been easy.”

Regina nodded and took a bite of her chicken. “There was one friend that she didn’t know about though.” She started after she swallowed her food, “what was her name?” She thought for a moment trying to place a name to the young girl pictured in her head. “Serena? Selena? No, no it was Zelena; I remember it now because I always used to think her name sounded like something from a Disney film.”

Emma smiled, that was certainly an unusual name. She took another bite of her burger and listened intently to Regina, learning about her past really seemed to fascinate her, like most things about her did.

“I met her at the park one Saturday; she had seen me alone on the swings and had wanted to befriend me. I was wary at first because she was a few years older than me and I had seen her there before with a number of other children, she was always the ringleader, I assumed she was planning on playing a prank on me or something but I still spoke to her. It turns out she just wanted to be my friend, she, like you were, was raised by foster parents; she said she was always amazed by how shiny my shoes were.” She laughed fondly at the memory, she had loved being friends with Zelena and she had learned many things from her including many swear words that she knew she would have got into trouble for using if she had mentioned them in front of her mother.

“There was this place we used to go, this huge undercover bandstand at the corner of the park. We made it into a clubhouse, each Saturday we’d bring an item from home and share it with one another.” Regina sighed somewhat sadly, that special place which had held so many happy memories had now been abandoned and was shut off to the public.

She took a sip of her wine before carrying on with her story. “One Saturday she wasn’t there and I remember crying for almost an hour because I had this brand new skipping rope to show her which I knew she would love. She wasn’t there the next Saturday either, or the one after that. I never did find out what happened to her.”

Emma smiled sadly, it sounded like this girl had meant a lot to Regina. “Do you know what her last name was? I could look her up for you, you could reconcile? Finally, show her that skipping rope.”

Regina chuckled at Emma’s kind gesture, “unfortunately I seemed to have misplaced that skipping rope. And I can’t for the life of me remember her surname.”

Emma shrugged, “well if you ever do.” She smiled and started picking at her chips having finished her burger.

* * *

_They knew that they’d be meeting at seven due to having hacked Emma’s mobile phone so they made sure that they had arrived at the restaurant at that time. They had called upon a friend to help them with that part, this friend worked within the technology industry and they had proven that they were a very loyal and useful friend to have. They had worried at first that this friend was not trustworthy however this person turned out to be just the opposite._

_They had asked for a seat at the back of the restaurant which gave them the perfect view of the whole establishment. That way they would be able to watch them wherever they decided to sit._

_They thought that the detective had clocked them at one point; she was staring directly at them and so they had to act quickly, pretending to be overly interested in something on their phone. They waited until they could feel Emma’s eyes leave them and then she had moved on to staring down the guests sitting beside them. It must have been some kind of police practice or something, whatever it was, they did not appreciate it._

_As time passed, the detective seemed to become more relaxed. She no longer seemed to pay any attention to anybody apart from Regina. This allowed them to take some subtle photographs of them on their phone, they weren’t perfect but they would do. They only wished that they could hear what they were talking about._

_They were deep in thought, planning the following day’s actions when the sudden movement from the table they were watching startled them. Both women were standing up and saying goodbye to the waiting staff. They fumbled in their purse and pulled out a twenty pound note slamming it down on to the table as they watched the door close upon Regina and Emma’s exit._

_They followed at a safe distance; Emma would have to drop Regina back off home so they knew that that would be where they were going next. Still, they needed to be sure, they had parked their rental car around the back and in no time they were inside it, swiftly cutting through traffic in order to remain a three car distance behind that yellow bug._

_The journey was familiar, they were definitely going straight back to Regina’s house. They knew there was no chance they would be able to get close to the house so they parked their car at the end of the neighboring road. They had parked in this spot before, it wasn’t ideal but they could still catch a glimpse of the house, they could see the yellow car and they would be able to know when it was that Emma Swan would leave the building._

* * *

Two police officers were already waiting outside the house for them, they had just checked each room and the surrounding area to make sure it was safe and had just given Emma the all clear. She thanked them and walked inside the house with Regina alongside her.

“How are you finding it with the guys outside?” She asked once the door was closed and it was just the two of them. 

Regina shrugged and took off her coat placing it on the coat stand before stretching her arm out to take Emma’s jacket. “They’re not so terrible. I’m actually becoming used to their presence.”

Emma shrugged off her red jacket and handed it over to Regina who hung it up beside her own. “Hopefully it won’t be for much longer.”

Regina frowned, “do you have a new lead?”

Emma shuffled a little uncomfortably, she had already said too much on the topic. “I can’t really say just yet but we’re getting closer to a motive, we’re getting there.”

Regina nodded and was about to ask another question about the case but decided against it, she didn’t want to ruin the night by bringing up that pathetic tyrant. Instead, she was going to keep this evening light, fun and positive. “I have something non-case related to show you. Wait here for a second.”

“Uhm, okay.” Emma watched as Regina left the room and waited around in the dining room admiring the décor of the place, she was pretty sure this room alone was bigger than her entire flat.

Regina half ran, half walked back into the dining room and Emma had to do her best not to smirk at the action. She had no idea that Regina could be such a dork and she found it totally adorable. The brunette handed her an old photograph, a reminiscent smile hanging from her lips.

“Is this you and your friend when you were kids?” Emma asked as she took in the details of the photograph. A young Regina stood wearing a black dress and a large grin alongside a taller girl with wild red hair, an equally wide smile spread across her features. 

“Yes, it’s the only photograph I have with her. Mother told me to throw it away but I never did.”

“Why did she want you to throw it away for?”

“I don’t know, probably because Zelena was not of the correct class or something superficial such as that.” Regina shrugged lightly, she never did find out the reason why her mother despised that picture so much. She remembered her reaction to finding it, she was weirdly angry; a mixture of shock and confusion was evident on her face. Regina was only young at the time but to this day she still remembered that reaction.

Emma remained staring at the photograph, her eyes drawn particularly to Regina who looked so genuinely happy. “How come you kept it for so long?”

“A number of reasons: my mother told me not to, it was a rare happy moment of my childhood and well, I thought that a picture could prove that I did actually have a friend at some point. I don’t really know why I still have it now though.”

“It’s nice that you still have it.” Emma glanced up from the picture and looked at Regina, “and are we just gonna ignore how cute you were or?”

Regina laughed for a moment before reverting to a serious tone, “are you saying that I’m not still cute, Emma?”

“Umm, no I definitely didn’t say that.” Emma shook her head for emphasis and handed the photograph back to Regina. She may have also blushed slightly but she was hoping that Regina had missed that small detail.

Regina chuckled and walked through to the living room with Emma closely behind, she tucked the photograph away safely in her unit and then reverted her attention back to the blonde. “Can I get you a drink?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll have whatever you’re having.” Emma watched as Regina left the room and walked through to the kitchen. She sat down on her side of the couch and then smiled to herself as she realized that she already had her own side of Regina’s couch.

Regina returned carrying two half-filled glasses of wine. She placed them on the table and sat down beside Emma, “thank you for taking me out tonight. You have no idea how nice it was to get out of the house and enjoy myself instead of worrying about everything.”

Emma couldn’t help but smile, “no problem, I had a really good time.” She glanced down to their knees which were now touching and made absolutely no attempt to break that contact.

“Weirdly, you are the one person that I enjoy talking to the most.” Regina took a sip of her wine before setting it down on the coaster.

Emma laughed lightly, “why’s that weird?”

Regina pondered for a second; “because you’re in charge of my case. You should be the person that I dread talking to.”

The smile was still painted on Emma’s face and she felt a little embarrassed but she couldn’t seem to rid herself of it. “I would really hate it if you ever did dread talking to me.”

“I don’t think that would ever happen.” Regina smiled, her fingers captured a lock of Emma’s hair and she gently placed it back behind her ear. “In fact, I’m extremely fond of you, Emma Swan.”

Emma swallowed; her heart jumping in her chest at the words that Regina had just said. “The feelings mutual,” she whispered, not being able to find the volume in her voice to project any louder.

Regina’s palm was still lingering, her fingers looping around golden hair. She knew she shouldn’t break any more of their rules but she couldn’t fight against her heart any longer.

She gently let go of Emma’s hair and grazed her hand across her cheek, Emma’s eyes fluttering closed at the gesture. She leaned in closer and captured pink lips with her own.

The kiss was delicate at first, tentative and uncertain. Hands soon wandered and mouths were opening. Regina moaned as she felt Emma deepen the kiss, their lips colliding with more haste and the hint of tongues threatening to make their appearance.

It was over too quickly though and Emma was the first to pull away, her breath hitching and her hands still buried deeply in Regina’s hair. She carefully untangled herself from her, “we should probably stop.” She said regretfully, wanting nothing more than to carry on and see where things led.

Regina nodded once and then looked away, “you’re right, we planned on waiting. I shouldn’t have…”

“No, I’m glad you did,” Emma cut her off and leaned in, her lips grazing Regina’s lightly, “I’m so glad you did.” She smiled and kept her forehead on Regina’s. “What I meant to say was, I have an extremely busy day tomorrow and I wanna make sure that we do this the right way.”

Regina sighed despite trying her hardest to hold it in, “we should reinforce those rules.”

Emma slowly retracted her forehead away from Regina’s, “It won’t be for much longer, babe.” She bit her bottom lip as that pet name escaped her.

Regina found it humorous and smiled, “babe, huh?”

Emma shrugged, a little embarrassed; “It slipped out.”

“I never had you down as being one so fond of nicknames,” Regina smirked, enjoying this light-hearted teasing.

Emma returned that same tone that Regina had adopted and sat back on the couch with her arm outstretched ready for Regina to snuggle into. “You have _so_ much to learn about me.”

Regina accepted the invite and cuddled up to Emma turning her head to look up at her. “If that’s the case, then you better start talking because we only have twenty minutes until my next check-in.” She smiled and laid her head on Emma’s shoulder, salvaging the moment for as long as she could because she knew that it wouldn’t be long before Emma would have to leave and she’d be all alone once again.

* * *

_It seemed like they spent most of their time waiting and here they were again waiting, however, this time they were outside the flat of Detective Inspector Emma Swan. Following her home was easy; she must’ve been preoccupied with something because she never checked her rearview mirror once._

_They knew they probably should just leave her alone, it was the day before their final showdown after all, but they needed to be sure that the detective wouldn’t mess up their plan. They had thought about breaking into her home like they had previously done with Regina but she was likely to be up to date on security and they had not done any research on this neighborhood, breaking in would be far too risky._

_Instead, they waited until she was asleep. They crept out of their rental car and made their way to the dusty yellow bug parked out on the street. When they were sure that they were alone they got out their phone and shone the light underneath the car. Slowly they crawled beneath it and planted a small tracking device onto the vehicle._

_It was vital that they knew exactly where Emma Swan would be in the key hours of their plan and this way they would be ready for any interruptions if Emma decided that she wanted to play the hero._

_Cautiously they slipped back into their car, they needed to get back and prepare because in only a matter of hours’ time both their world and Regina’s would be turned upside down._


	13. Caught In A Trap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning that there is some mild violence in this chapter. Hope you guys like this one!

Tuesday 8th November.

Emma was running late. She had parked her car in her usual parking spot behind the station and had hurriedly gathered all of her belongings before taking a brisk walk to the station entrance.

She groaned as she tried to balance a number of folders in her hand. She had taken some home hoping to work on them after her date with Regina but then the kiss happened and she had gotten completely flustered and had instead spent the rest of the night texting Regina and work had somehow dwindled to the very last of her thoughts.

She felt a smile appear as she thought back to that kiss. Last night had been the best first date she had ever been on and she couldn’t wait to see what happened with herself and Regina in the future.

Today was a new day though and she had agreed with Regina to focus 100% on the case which meant little to no communication with each other throughout the day, she could already tell that this was going to be a long day.

She was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts when she collided right into another woman. “Sorry,” she gasped straight away as she watched every single one of her folders tumble to the ground.

“You should really watch where you’re going.” The other woman replied and bent down to the ground the same time as Emma did to help with the scattered folders.

“Yeah, sorry,” Emma repeated and turned around to collect the loose papers which were dangerously close to being blown away entirely.

The woman gleamed as she saw the top of the mobile phone sticking out of Emma’s back pocket. She leaned forward and slowly pulled it out unbeknownst to Emma who was still preoccupied with picking up her work.

Once she had it in her hands she made sure that Emma was still busy retrieving the paperwork before slipping it into her own pocket. She then gathered up a number of folders and thrusted them into Emma’s hands once she had turned back around. “Here,” She said, an innocent smile masking her face.

Emma held the folders close to her chest while she picked up the remaining few. “Thanks,” She said to the woman who looked vaguely familiar. She furrowed her brow, trying to remember how and why she recognized this woman but before she could the woman was gone.

Emma shrugged; the amount of people she came into contact with was crazy. She held onto her folders tightly and started up a swift jog into the station, she really couldn’t afford to be any later than she already was.

* * *

  _Perfect, that was what her plan was, nothing short of perfect. She had been keeping an eye on the tracking device from Emma’s car all morning and when she saw it begin to move she had left her current spot and had gone to wait around nearby the police station._

_She had watched from across the street as Emma struggled with her folders and had seized the opportunity for the ever clumsy Emma Swan to bump into her. As expected she had found her phone in her back pocket, for a detective she really should work on keeping her belongings safer. She had snatched it and dashed before Emma could even regain her composure._

_She was back in her den now, the phone gripped tightly between her fingers. She clicked on to the messages button and read through the previous exchanges between Regina and Emma. She needed to make sure that Regina believed that she was communicating with Emma and Emma only._

_She was studying Emma’s texting style when the phone buzzed in her hand, a text message from none other than Regina appearing on the screen:_

_‘Good morning Emma! I know we agreed on not texting while you were at work but I just wanted to say thank you again for last night, it was wonderful. R.’_

_She read the message with a smile on her face; Regina was making this so easy for her. All she had to do was convince Regina that she really was Emma; she could already see how head over heels Regina was for the blonde so the rest should be easy._

_‘Regina, hey. I’m so glad you texted cos I have a surprise for you tonight. Just you and me, you game?’ She typed using the language she believed best resembled the detective._

_A moment later the phone lit up again: ‘That depends on what kind of surprise it is…’_

_She smirked, confident that so far Regina had no clue that she wasn’t communicating with Emma Swan. ‘A nice one, I promise. Can you meet me in the park later?’_

_There was a longer pause before the next message came in and she was a little concerned that maybe Regina had found out something. She played a huge risk by stealing Emma’s phone and she could only hope that Emma did not inform Regina that her phone was missing or everything could backfire. ‘What about the police officers outside?’ The message read._

_She let out a sigh of relief; so far, so good. ‘They’ll never find out if you sneak out the back after your 6pm clock in, I’ll get you back safe and sound before your 7pm one ;)’ She added a wink emoji noticing that Emma had previously used one in a message from last night._

_‘I don’t know, Emma. Can’t you just come to mine like you did yesterday?’_

_‘I would but those cops are already beginning to think something’s going on with us. Besides I’ve set up something really special for you in the park.’_

_‘Those guys as well as David and Ruby, wow, we’re practically famous.’ The phone buzzed again before she had a chance to reply signaling another message coming in from Regina. ‘Whereabouts in the park should I meet you?’_

_She grinned from ear to ear, it seemed like her plan was going to go down without any glitches. ‘There’s this cool old bandstand by the back entrance, I have a surprise for you there.’_

_‘The place where I said Zelena and I used to play?’ Her eyes widened as she saw her own name in the text, she had not expected that. She took a calming breath, there’s no way that the cops could suspect her of anything, Regina must’ve just mentioned it in conversation. She had been thorough in everything, framing Robin in every way that she could. She took another breath; there was definitely no evidence that Emma Swan could trace back to her._

_‘Yes, that’s the one. I found it and thought I’d let you relive some happy memories.’ She sent the message back as quickly as she could; hoping Regina wouldn’t pick up on the slight delay between their messages._

_‘That’s sweet of you. I’ll be there.’ The text came back almost immediately and Zelena’s smile once again appeared._

_‘Awesome and remember, don’t tell anyone. I will never live this down if anyone at work finds out.’ She put the phone down, now all she could do was wait for her prey to come right to her door._

_A few minutes later an incessant buzzing filled the room and Zelena froze as she looked at Emma’s phone which was sitting in front of her. She frowned as she saw that the buzzing was coming from somewhere else entirely; her own phone._

_Nobody had this number apart from him, why would he be calling her for? She answered it gruffly, “what do you want?”_

_“That’s no way to talk to your favorite accomplice now, is it Z?” The caller responded, the smugness in his voice clear for her to hear._

_She rolled her eyes, “we agreed that you wouldn’t call me until after I’d dealt with Regina.”_

_“I have some news that I thought you’d want to hear?”_

_“Did someone find out you hacked Swan’s phone?” She started to panic once again, she was scared that her plan would be foiled, she couldn’t let that happen especially now when she was so close to completing it._

_“No, of course not. You don’t give me enough credit; I told you, no one will ever find out about that, hacking is my profession.” He paused as if wondering how to proceed, “it’s that Robin bloke. They let him go.”_

_“Shit! Are you sure? How do you know?” She asked, her voice fast and incessant._

_“I was looking out for you, love. Asked that blabbermouth at the station reception and she said they had to release him.”_

_“She just told you that?”_

_“I can be pretty charming, you know? Do you want me to do anything?”_

_“No it’s fine, they wasted all that time with him, they’ll never be able to pin this on me in just a few hours.” She hoped that was true and she was sure it was, she was fairly confident that she had covered all of her tracks._

_“Okay, be careful. Call me when you’re done and I’ll pick you up. This time tomorrow we’ll be in Spain and Regina Mills will be on a mortician’s slab.” He laughed and hung up the phone._

_Zelena couldn’t keep from smiling; she had always planned on doing this alone until she had met him. Initially, she had only sought after him to hack Emma’s phone for her but once they got talking she realized just how much they had in common with one another. He seemed like her perfect match, they were both passionate, a little insane and they both shared a hatred for Regina Mills, although, granted, her hatred was a lot, lot stronger._

* * *

 The office was weirdly hot, the heating was on high and the energy around the room was more tense than usual. Emma didn’t like it but at least it meant that nobody would really notice if she snuck in a little later than usual. She placed her folders down on her desk before catching Ruby’s eye.

“Serge, do you know how many dead exes Cora Mills has? And they all have about five hundred kids and grandkids. We’re literally falling down a rabbit hole here.” Ruby moaned as Emma walked over to her and David’s desks.

“Is there anyone with any previous offenses?”

David shook his head. “Not really, they’re all rich anyway so if they did have they’d just get some expensive lawyer to wipe their record clean.”

Emma rested her hand on her hip, her mind still stuck on something that Regina had mentioned the previous night. “Have you come across anyone named Zelena?”

“No, should we have?” David asked incredulously, it was the first time he had even heard of such a name.

Emma sighed, “No, it’s probably nothing. Regina mentioned her mother taking a dislike to this Zelena that’s all.”

“Cora Mills seemed to take a disliking to everybody,” Ruby said and waited until Emma had escaped her thoughts before she continued. “What else were you two discussing last night?” She asked with a smile and David put down his pen and looked at Emma with a raised eyebrow.

“That’s if they weren’t too busy doing something else?” David smirked which caused Ruby to burst into a fit of laughter.

Emma blushed and shook her head, “okay, so back to the case... I’m gonna be at my desk chasing up any missing evidence from the lab and you two are going to carry on with whatever you were doing before you got distracted by my love life.”

She walked off before either of them made any further comments and went to pull her phone out of her back pocket. She frowned at the empty space she found where her phone would usually be sitting in. “Crap,” she sighed, she must have left it at home. It was no surprise really considering the rush she was in that morning.

* * *

 Regina did exactly as Emma had instructed her to. She waited until 6pm, the two uniform officers performed their hourly house inspection and made sure that she was alright and then they left to patrol outside in their car.

Regina felt bad about going behind their back but if it meant that she got to see Emma again then she would do it, besides Emma was a Detective Inspector, she was sure that Emma would get her home safely before any of the officers even noticed.

She walked into her kitchen, checking behind her shoulder just in case one of the officers could somehow see through walls; she then quietly opened the back door. With a final passing glance, she tiptoed out of the door, the bitter chill of the air whipping through her hair immediately.

She pulled her coat tighter around her body as she pushed the back door closed being sure to leave it on the latch so she could sneak back inside later on. She made her way to the back of her garden where Emma had mentioned the break in the bushes, she was unaware of this break herself but Emma had described exactly where it was to her in her previous message so she knew where to look.

Once she had found it she crept through it, narrowly dodging a stray branch which hovered close to her cheek. The park wasn’t far from her house and after she had gotten through the hedge she could see the entrance to the large park just in front of her.

The gate was closed and there was nobody around, the looming darkness of the night starting to settle had caused children and parents to return home and evening joggers to move to a lighter area.

She looked around, a strange part of her feeling as if she were being watched. She swallowed; Emma wasn’t far away from this gate. All she had to do was make it to her old clubhouse and then she’d feel safe again.

She walked past the closed iron gate, the back entrance to the park was the only way that she could get inside and thankfully that wasn’t too far away from her either. She tried to keep as close to the streetlights as possible, her footsteps sounding louder to her than they had ever done before.

She could hear herself breathing, the eerie silence was uncomfortable, there seemed to be little traffic which was unusual for this time. A car suddenly sped past her and she jumped, her heart racing faster as she glared at the speeding vehicle.

Regina quickened her pace as she rounded the corner, she could see the back entrance to the park just in front of her. It looked darker inside the park, the lights being hidden by the trees and foliage. She sped up even more, her head whipping around every couple of seconds to make sure that nobody else was around.

She had soon reached the entrance and had quickly made her way into the dark park. It was empty as she had expected it to be. She looked into the direction of where the bandstand was and she could see a dim light coming from it. She smiled to herself; Emma must be waiting for her.

The bandstand itself was smaller than she had remembered, about the size of a garage or a large shed. It had been boarded up some time ago and those wooden boards still remained around it. A couple of boards were missing and through them the light glowed, beckoning her closer.

She walked over the dewy grass, twigs and leaves crunching beneath each footstep. She kept her eyes on the warm glow in front of her wondering what it was that Emma had set up in there.

Her curiosity spurred her on and she soon found herself standing just outside the abandoned building. “Emma?” She called, her voice shaky from the cold and the underlying feeling that something wasn’t quite right.

There was no answer so she walked a little closer, trying to see in between the broken boards, “Emma, are you in there?” She asked again, her nerves were worsening with every moment of silence and she was about to walk away and go back home until she heard a loud creak behind the wooden boards.

She squinted, trying to see inside without having to go in, the creak sounded like someone walking on a dodgy floorboard; it had to be Emma, didn’t it?

She took a deep breath, Emma had probably set up some elaborate surprise for her inside and she didn’t want to spoil that, she swallowed and took one last sweeping glance of the park before bending down and walking through the break in the wooden boards.

“Emma?” She called once again and frowned when she was met with a dim candlelit room, four walls covered entirely with photographs of herself, candid shots from months ago that she hadn’t known had been taken, pictures of herself and Emma from just yesterday and lined on the very back wall were the photos of herself from her stolen photo album. On the right of the back wall hung her missing dress.

Regina’s jaw dropped, her eyes filling with terrified tears, this was all a trick, some sadistic ploy to trap her. She turned around to leave, to run as fast as she could back to her policed home but before she could even move her head collided with a hard object.

The cold metal slammed against her temple and she fell to the ground with a mighty thud. She tried to move but she couldn’t see, her vision was all blurry and hazy. She opened her mouth to scream but all that came out was a whimsical whine. When she tried to stand she couldn’t and instead she flopped hopelessly back to the ground again.

She tried to fight it but she couldn’t and the darkness took over her body. Her eyes closed and the rest of her senses seemed to shut down shortly after. The last thing she remembered was the sound of feet shuffling beside her and the feeling of sharp fingernails digging into her arms…

* * *

 Emma had been staring at the newly created evidence board in the office for about a half hour now. More and more clues had been piled onto it and the more that she looked at it the harder it became to read.

She hummed as she went through the timeline of threats that Regina had received, there was something that didn’t quite add up; the flowers.

They had been delivered to Regina at the exact time that her police protection had started, the deliverer of the flowers making sure to wait until the moment that she and Regina were outside the house to make their move.

At the time she had thought nothing of it but the more she thought about it now the weirder it seemed. The florist had told her that they wanted to go home quickly yet if that were the case surely they would have handed the flowers over to one of the uniform officers who were already at the house?

When they were asked who had made the order they had described Robin to a tee. However, Robin had said that he hadn’t made that order, his card payments backed that up and he couldn’t have paid in person as it was proven that he was in Manchester at the time.

Which led to one of two conclusions, either the florist was covering for somebody or the florist wasn’t a florist after all and was somebody entirely more sinister.

Emma wracked her brain trying to recreate the image of the florist in her head, she was tall, late thirties, long red hair. She knew she had seen her before but where?

She instinctively reached behind to her back pocket, her hand coming up empty due to her phone being missing. “Holy shit,” She whispered, all the pieces falling into place.

“It’s her…” She clenched her fists, overwhelming anger powering through her as she realized she had come into contact with Regina’s stalker not once but twice.

She bolted through the office and found Ruby and David who were looking at her alarmingly. “What is it?”

“I know who it is, we need to get to Regina’s now!” Emma gasped and was already sprinting out of the office and to her car with Ruby and David playing catch up behind.

“Who is it?” Ruby called down the corridor after Emma who was already nearly at reception.

“The florist, call Regina, don’t stop calling her until she answers, okay? I’ll meet you guys at her place.” Emma shouted to her colleagues before racing out of the door leaving a curious Mary Margaret watching her from reception with her mouth agape.

The drive to Regina’s was agonizing, she had put on her siren but still cars had refused to get out of her way. She couldn’t seem to get the image of that woman out of her head, those piercing blue eyes, those long red waves. She bit her lip for a moment, a crazy thought entering her head. “Zelena?” She said aloud, the idea sounding a whole lot more rational when she said it out loud.

The girl in the picture was about eleven or twelve meaning the ages would add up, her eyes were the same as that girls and the hair was better groomed now but it was easily the same color. It had to be Zelena but why the hell would she target Regina for? And why now?

Emma honked her horn angrily until the white van blocking her path moved out of the way and then she slammed her foot down on the accelerator; she needed to get to Regina’s.

The calmness surrounding Regina’s residential road made for a perfect contrast to the frantic sirens and screeching wheels which were now hurtling around the corner. Emma slammed on her brakes as soon as she found a free spot beside the already parked police car.

“Where’s Regina?” She cried, her eyes so wild and desperate that she took the police officers by surprise.

They motioned toward the house, “she’s inside, we checked on her about 40 minutes ago. Next check-in isn’t until 7.” He shrugged and was going to continue speaking but Emma had already dashed toward the house.

The uniform officers looked at one another slightly confused and followed Emma inside, Ruby and David had now joined them, both looking just as worried.

Once inside they were all calling her name, checking each room and coming up with nothing. “Fuck, fuck!” Emma shouted and David rushed over to her to try and calm her down before she acted upon her anger.

“Back door’s on the latch. She left her phone on the table.” Ruby said as she came running through to join the other detectives from the kitchen.

“Zelena. It was Zelena, she must’ve tricked her. This is bad guys.” Emma tried to catch her breath, her mind racing at what seemed to be a million miles an hour.

David frowned, “her old friend, Zelena?”

“Yes, she was the florist; she was the one that bumped into me earlier. She must’ve taken my phone as well.” Emma started to pace angrily while David and Ruby began to put the pieces of the case together in their heads.

“Shit, this is all my fault.” Her breathing hitched, if only she hadn’t gotten so close to Regina, if only she would have noticed that that monster of a woman had stolen her phone.

Ruby ran to her side and placed her hand on her shoulder, “hey, it’s not. You had no idea, this is Zelena’s fault and nobody else’s.”

David nodded and mimicked Ruby’s actions by placing his hand on Emma’s other shoulder, “and right now we need to think where it is that Zelena would have taken her.”

Emma knew that they were right and she knew that she had to forget about this self-blaming game that she so often battled with. She had to focus completely on finding Regina. She thought back to her discussion with Regina about her childhood, there was only one place that Zelena could take her, “I think I know where they are.”

* * *

 Regina groaned as she opened her eyes, their usual color being misted by a red hue of disorientation. Her vision was still blurry but she was now sitting on a chair, a strong rope wrapped around her wrists, another around her ankles and another one pinning her waist to the chair.

She closed her eyes once more, hoping that when she opened them her vision would return. It didn’t and she blinked a couple more times until slowly she began to see again.

A figure came into view but still, it was difficult to make out who exactly it was. “Who are you?” She croaked, her mouth dry and her head releasing a searing pain at the amount of effort it took to create words.

Zelena seemed to enjoy seeing her in pain and she let out a throaty laugh watching in elation as Regina winced in agony, a small stream of blood starting to trickle down her forehead.

Regina groaned again, wondering what her captor had found so humorous; she blinked, this time she could make out a black shadow, long red curls bouncing over the hoodie that she was wearing. “You?” She sputtered, her eyes beginning to widen in shock and confusion.

“Hey sis,” She smiled a toothy grin and walked forward, her face hovering right in front of Regina’s, “don’t you recognize me?”


	14. The Showdown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another warning for violence in this chapter. Hope you guys like this one, let me know what you think and once again, thank you for reading!

“Zelena?...” She gasped, still not quite believing that all of this was happening. Her head was throbbing, the pain getting stronger with every second. Her eyes were glued to Zelena, wondering what she was going to do next, she wanted to scream but she knew it would be no use; she was helpless.

Zelena was finding this whole situation completely delightful; in fact, it was the most fun she had had in a long time. “Surprise sis! Mummy never told you that you had a sister, did she?”

Regina frowned, the action itself causing her even more pain. “What? You’re not my sister. I would’ve known.” She struggled against the rope that was holding her down but it made little difference and only caused Zelena to look at her with even more amusement.

“Oh, Regina you have so much to catch up on.” Zelena placed her hands on her hips and continued to stare happily at her captured sister.

“Why are you doing this? Let me go!” Regina cried louder than before and turned her head to the side to try and prevent any more blood from trickling from the wound on her head to her cheek.

Zelena lunged forward and gripped Regina’s chin in her palm turning her head back around to face her, “That is a good question.” She spat and then released her clasp and took a step back once again, resuming her position standing in front of Regina. “I hope you’re sitting comfortably because I’m going to tell you a story all about me and you and our beloved mother.”

“Zelena please, just untie me.” Regina shuffled some more before giving up, fearing that she would end up causing herself even more harm if she struggled against the ropes.

“Ha, ha, good one sis.”  Zelena chuckled, she had made sure that the ropes were tight enough to cut into her skin if she struggled too much and by the looks of it they were about to do just that.

She hummed and waited until Regina was staring into her eyes before she spoke again. “Let’s start at the beginning. It was a drizzly Monday morning, the 8th November 1977 to be exact, and a beautiful baby girl had just arrived into the world.” She wiggled her fingers in front of Regina as if she was creating magic and then she stopped abruptly and raised her voice venomously. “Spoiler alert, that baby was me and that woman giving birth would be our wonderful mother, Cora Mills.”

Suddenly she was calm again and had adopted a more melancholy tone of voice. “I was born in St Mary’s hospital, she didn’t even hold me you know, she couldn’t even look at me. She told the nurse to get rid of me before she even looked into my eyes. That’s kinda sad, isn’t it?”

Regina shook her head softly; the slight movement making her feel dizzy. This couldn’t be true, Zelena must be suffering from a case of mistaken identity, there was no way that this could be true. “Zelena, you’re confused, this isn’t right...”

“It is, Regina, I have a bloody birth certificate to prove it.” Zelena snapped again and yanked a piece of paper which resembled a birth certificate from the table beside the chair that Regina was tied to.

“Father would never give up a baby,” Regina whispered and did her best to read the small print on the birth certificate that Zelena was frantically waving around in front of her.

“Your father wouldn’t but mine didn’t even know I existed, he’s dead now just like your dad.” She muttered harshly and placed the birth certificate back on the table.

“Now back to my story, the nurse said that I didn’t even cry when I was taken away and the first thing our mother asked was how to get rid of her bloody stretchmarks, can you believe her? I mean, you probably can as you got to grow up with her.”

Regina looked at the ground; it seemed that maybe Zelena was telling the truth about her mother. She cautiously looked back up towards the redhead who seemed lost in thought. “Zelena, I’m sorry that she did that to you.”

“Save it.” She tutted and started to pace back and forth in front of Regina who had to look away once again, this time because she was feeling nauseous.

“I got thrown around the foster system like most kids did, abused, bullied, kicked around, I experienced all the fun stuff like that. Then things started to look up, I found a home with a nice couple not far from here. They had a reasonably big house and lots of pets and they really seemed to love me. I got into a local school, other kids thought I was funny and everything was good for a bit.” Zelena paused and stood straight in front of Regina, she wanted to make sure she heard the next part of the story.

“Until, until this one night when the police came to our door. They arrested my foster father and took me straight back to the orphanage. The last memory I had of my family was my foster mother crying and my foster father in handcuffs. The worst thing was I never did understand what happened.”

Regina couldn’t help but sympathize with Zelena’s story. She was so young, just a child and she had experienced so much pain. “That sounds awful, I wish I could’ve helped you back then,” she said softly, hoping that Zelena would understand that she was not their mother and she was very different to Cora.

“Whatever, what could you have done?” Zelena sneered, “I never heard from my foster parents again, they weren’t allowed to contact me, I grew up in more homes, different foster families but none like them. Then I moved out, flat shared with some other grown-up orphans, worked some god awful jobs to make the rent but I did it, never missed a payment. I worked at this one bar, built up a solid reputation there, eventually, I had enough money saved to move out and things were finally looking up.”

Regina had a feeling that this wasn’t the end of the story; she knew that it was about to get much, much worse, “what happened?”

“My foster father, Ian, he found me. He wasn’t in a good way, he was fighting cancer, didn’t have long to live but he said he needed to sort things out with me. He spent years trying to find me, you know? And he told me the truth… The ugly, brutal truth and that changed me… That really changed me…” Zelena continued speaking but what she was saying became unclear to Regina and she had started muttering under her breath, picking up the pacing habit once again.

Regina waited for a few moments before speaking up and tearing Zelena out of her own mind. “Zelena, what did he tell you?”

She looked at Regina again, her eyes a little watery from having to relive the memories that she really rather wouldn’t. “He said that he was arrested for sexual assault, and of course, that meant that it was too risky for a foster kid to be living under his roof. But he never assaulted anybody, no, some woman made it all up. Cora Mills. See, she wasn’t set on ruining my life just the once, she had to make sure that I was miserable forever. She couldn’t risk the truth coming out, what would people say if they knew she had an illegitimate bastard child running around?”

“I can’t believe that she did that to you,” Regina replied, her voice low and whispery.

“Yeah well, she did. After finding that out, I pretty much lost my mind. I needed to find Cora and I needed to make her pay.”

She was almost afraid to ask but she knew Zelena was going to tell her anyway, “did you find her?”

Zelena let out a maniacal laugh which made Regina jump. “I did and you know what? When I saw her she didn’t even recognize me, her own daughter! We argued for about an hour and I never got a single apology, I was never _her_ daughter, I was just a piece of rubbish which she could never dispose of.”

She shook her head and glared at Regina; “besides, she had you and you were the _perfect_ daughter. It made me feel sick the way she harped on about her magazine editor daughter and the more she spoke about you the more it made me realize that I could’ve so easily been that perfect daughter if only she had given me a chance. And then I got angry again because she never did give me that chance and so I followed her home, waited until the roads were quiet and then smashed my car into the side of hers.”

“You?!” Regina raised her voice as loudly as she could, her shock and anger rising to the forefront. “You were the driver that killed her. How could you? She did a lot of bad things but she didn’t deserve that!”

Zelena raised her eyebrows, not expecting her sister’s outburst. “You’re right, she deserved a much slower and painful death but I guess I’ll just have to compensate that by torturing you instead.”

Regina’s eyes widened, regretting her impulsive actions immediately. She had to be smart here; she needed to make Zelena feel as if she were her ally, her life literally depended on it. “Zelena, I have nothing to do with this. We were friends, remember?”

“Shut up!” Zelena shouted and reached for something else from the table beside Regina.

Regina’s eyes widened once more in terror as she saw what it was that Zelena had grabbed, the shiny beam coming from the metal object had given it away instantly. She let out a small, scared whimper as Zelena moved the knife closer to her. “Please don’t do this,” she squeaked and clamped her eyes shut as the cool metal rested against the side of her cheek.

Zelena laughed, enjoying the power that she had over Regina, “are you afraid, sis?” She asked, running the side of the blade over her cheek and then suddenly stopping and resting the point gently on the side of her face just below her eyebrow.

“Zelena, please don’t” Regina begged, her eyes opening slowly in hopes that the other woman would back down.

Zelena dragged the blade across Regina’s face causing a deep graze to be dug into her skin, blood seeping out as Regina cried out in pain. Once she had finished she wiped the blade on the bottom of her hoodie and placed it into her front pocket.

She waited until Regina had stopped sobbing, by this time the blood had already begun to run down her neck and Zelena smiled at the view. “Let’s talk about the fun sisterly things that I’ve been doing, shall we? Did you like those letters? They were so fun, weren’t they? But you never did reply to any, I was really hoping for some banter between us.” She pouted and crossed her arms over her chest.

Regina glared, trying her hardest to twist her hands free from the ropes but only managing to get rope burn from her efforts. “Why didn’t you sign them then?” She seethed, the pain in her cheek causing her to grit her teeth.

“Who signs anonymous letters?” Zelena shrugged, a grin painting her lips. “Oh and I watched you a lot back then too, I don’t know if you know about that?”

“Why?” Regina asked, she knew she needed to get out of here now, there seemed to be no rational side to Zelena. She started to look around the room as carefully as she could not wanting Zelena to figure out what it was that she was doing.

“Well after I murdered mum I wanted to see how you coped being parentless. I have to say I coped a lot better. I saw you at her funeral, you barely shed a tear and that got me wondering why, I was intrigued by your life, was it really as perfect as mother had made out? Turns out it wasn’t, it was actually quite boring.” Zelena laughed once more, her hand gripping the knife which was still sitting in the pocket of her sweater.

“How long were you watching me for?”

“I watched you every now and again for a few years after the funeral, then I got fired from my job because I was absent too often. I blame you for that by the way; you kept me away from working. So then I had more free time on my hands, I started following you every day then, and that’s when the letters started, thought I’d spice things up a bit.”

“I never did anything to you, Zelena. This hatred is all aimed towards my mother, not me.” She said as defiantly as she could and noted that the only escape from this place seemed to be the same way that she entered.

Zelena nodded and smiled sarcastically, “Yes, well she’s not here is she?”

Regina sighed and then winced in pain straight afterward; unless she could get out of these ropes she stood no chance. She closed her eyes at a loss of what to do; she should try and keep her distracted, keep her talking until someone came to rescue her. It must be near to her next check-in time, they would notice that she’s gone, they would call Emma, and Emma would find her. She took a deep breath, she knew exactly how to keep Zelena enthralled in conversation; talk about Zelena. “You were outside my house that night? You put that heart in my fridge and you, that was you who brought those flowers to me!”

“Yes, well done. I’m surprised I managed to pull that one off, coming face to face with both you and that idiot detective, which reminds me, we should really check in with Detective Swan.”

Regina reverted her attention back to Zelena, a pang of worry hitting her hard. “What have you done to her?”

“Nothing, calm down. Why would I hurt her when hurting you would satisfy me so much more?” She asked, that devilish grin still apparent.

Regina gasped, remembering how it was that Zelena lured her here. “Her phone, you have her phone.”

Zelena rolled her eyes and pulled something else out from her pocket. “Chill, I only stole it. Oh, and look, she’s at your house right now.”

“How do you know that?” She said, her eyes looking cautiously at the device that Zelena was holding.

Zelena laughed and held up the object. “Tracking device, seriously Gina, stalking 101 – always install a tracking device.” She put it back in her pocket without a second thought.

“She’ll know, she’ll know that it’s you. She’ll be on her way right now just let me go and you’ll have a chance to escape.” Regina fidgeted again, this time she rubbed her bloody cheek against her shoulder trying to stop the cut from bleeding out anymore.

“Yeah, Detective Swan is pretty thick so I think I’ll take my chances and kill you instead.” Zelena’s eyes widened in delight and once again she withdrew the sharp blade from her pocket.

“Zelena, no wait. Please, I understand.” Regina sputtered, she was desperate. Now that she knew that Emma was at her house she knew that it wouldn’t be long before she would figure everything out. She just needed to keep Zelena distracted for that little bit longer.

“Understand what?” She asked, swinging the knife theatrically back and forth in front of Regina’s face as if it was a hand of a ticking clock.

Regina watched the hypnotizing knife sway back and forth. “Mother, she was, she was awful. What she did to you was unforgivable but if you do this, if you hurt me then she’s won. We can build a relationship, we can get to know one another, she would’ve hated that, please Zelena.” She was crying now, big fearful tears dropping down from her eyes and causing her even more stinging pain when they met her wound.

Zelena just smiled. Halting the knife mid-swing, she walked an inch closer, her face so close to Regina that she could feel her sharp intakes of air. “Nice try, sis.”

* * *

 Emma had regrouped with Ruby and David outside the front of Regina’s house, she had instructed the uniform officers to do a thorough sweep of the area while she, David and Ruby made their way to the park. “I’ve called back-up; they’re meeting us at the park.” She spoke quickly and begun to stride off into the direction of the park but David caught her arm and was pulling her back.

“Wait, what’s the plan? We need a plan, Em.” He said calmly, noticing that Emma had already gone into panic mode.

“We need to find that bandstand!” She replied and tugged her arm back, desperately trying to escape his grasp so she could find Regina.

Ruby watched her and started to worry, Emma was way too close to Regina and she definitely wasn’t thinking straight. “The park is huge, how do we know which one it’ll be?”

Emma could see the caution in both Ruby and David’s eyes and she tried her best to act professionally. If this was any other case then she would have a solid plan laid out, wait for back-up to arrive and follow the correct protocol. But it wasn’t another case, it was Regina’s and it was Regina's life at risk. She needed to act fast but also direct and efficiently. “Regina said that it’s been abandoned, she said it was in the corner of the park.”

“The fish pond corner?” David asked and released his grasp on Emma noticing that she had calmed down a little.

Emma shook her head, the mental image of the park layout entering her head. “No, no it can’t be there, it must be the back corner, the one near the back entrance. That’s the only place which is still awaiting repair work. That must be where she is, come on!” She shouted and had already started running in the direction of the park.

Emma had worked up a sprint within seconds, she was by far the most athletic of the three and was a good way ahead of both Ruby and David by the time she approached the back entrance to the park. Her mind was creating terrible images as she looked around frantically for the building.

She saw it right away, the other side of a small stretch of grass just ahead of her. She paused as David and Ruby caught up with her, where the hell was back-up?

“They’re in there.” She nodded toward the building and started walking as quietly as she could across the grass knowing that the last thing that she should do was to startle Zelena.

Ruby followed her and David hesitated a few footsteps behind keeping an eye out for the officers who were meant to be joining them. “Em, we need to wait for back-up, she could be armed.”

Emma turned to Ruby, looking her in the eye. “I’ve already let Regina down once, I’m not about to let her down again. You guys wait for back-up, okay?”

“Emma, no!” Ruby called out to the back of Emma’s head as the blonde ran toward the building.

Emma had no idea what to expect, but what she did see was far worse than anything she could’ve imagined. Regina was tied to a chair; her head hung low with blood pouring down one side of her face. Zelena was beside her smiling menacingly like some evil cartoon character, a sharp knife resting on the side of Regina’s neck.

“Regina?!” Emma yelled as her eyes darted between the unconscious brunette and the shiny metal knife which Zelena had held against her neck.

“Emma, so nice of you to join us and at such a crucial moment too.” Zelena still smiled, seemingly unfazed by Emma’s unexpected arrival.

“You need to back the hell away from her, right now!” She shouted at her, her hand hovering over the handcuffs which were stored inside her jacket. She looked to Regina and let out a sigh of relief once she noticed the soft breathing that left her unmoving body.

“Or what, Detective? You’ll arrest me?” Zelena teased and ran the knife up and down Regina’s skin.

The sight of the knife moving caused Emma to see red and she launched herself toward Zelena, rugby tackling her to the floor. The knife shot out of her hand as soon as they impacted the ground and slid somewhere beneath the table.

Emma was on top of her, her face contorted with anger. “What did you do to her?” She cried, desperately wanting to know whether Regina was going to be okay.

Zelena laughed in response, she wasn’t going to give Emma any answers.

Emma’s anger rose with Zelena’s reluctance to answer, “tell me!” She yelled and raised her hand into a fist.

“You’re the detective, you figure it out.” She gleamed; she was still so smug even upon being caught.

Emma was red with anger now; she was convinced that she had never hated anybody as much as she hated Zelena right now. She raised her fist a little more, that condescending grin imbedded on Zelena’s face was just asking to be wiped off.

She pulled back, making sure to get as much strength into her punch as she possibly could and then she swung at her.

Her fist never quite reached its target though and was cut off by a pair of strong arms carrying her off of the laughing body beneath her.

“Not a good idea, Serge,” David yelled and released Emma to go and take care of Regina.

Ruby had already cuffed Zelena and David then joined her in escorting her outside. “Ambulance won’t be long,” Ruby called over her shoulder as they exited the building, the police sirens outside confirming that back-up had finally arrived.

“Regina?” Emma whispered as her fingers fiddled with the ropes around her arms and legs. “Fuck’s sake.” She screamed as she failed to make any improvement in loosening the ropes.

She looked over and found the knife under the table; she took hold of it and cut away each rope, struggling a little when faced with the thickest rope which held Regina to the chair.

“Regina? Regina? Please wake up, I’m here now. You’re safe.” She whispered softly, her hands cupping Regina’s cheeks, being careful to avoid the wound on the side as best she could.

Regina’s head lulled against Emma’s shoulder and Emma let her rest there all the while talking to her softly, trying to get her to respond in any way.

“Emma?” She whispered so quietly that Emma thought she had imagined it at first. She carefully pulled away from Regina and held her head in her hands protectively.

“Hey, you’re gonna be okay.” Emma let out a relieved smile as she saw Regina open her eyes. Regina’s consciousness was short lived though and once again she flopped forward onto Emma, her eyes closing as she heard the arrival of the paramedics making their way into the building.

* * *

  _He should have run in and saved her but he had frozen. A coward; that would be what his father would call him if he were there but he knew that he wasn’t a coward. He had done what she had said and now he was sitting in their getaway car alone and watching as she was being escorted off in the back of a police car, handcuffed and insane._

_She had been the ringleader; he had only joined in a few days ago. He could still get away with this and nobody would ever find out that he was involved. He knew that she wouldn’t say anything and even if she did who would believe her? She was crazy, wasn’t she?_

_He gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles growing white with how tight he was holding on to it. He wasn’t ready for this to be over so soon, not with these results anyway. Zelena captivated him, she excited him, he had never met anybody like her before and he liked the idea of the two of them traveling together through Europe like a modern day Bonnie and Clyde._

_He had a lot of thinking to do, he could hand himself in, he could travel to Spain alone or he could wait around here for a while and see how things played out. His options were many but right now he needed to get the hell out of here and clear his head._

_He took one last look before he left; Zelena was sitting in the back of the police car now. The blue sirens lighting up the night sky, she turned to her left, almost as if she were looking at him and she smiled. And in that moment he knew exactly what it was that he had to do._


	15. A Mother's Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this chapter is a little later than usual, I don't really know what was going on with AO3 last night! Once again, thank you to everyone for all of your support so far!

Wednesday 9th November.

Emma had spent the night at Regina’s bedside. She wasn’t technically allowed to as she wasn’t family but she had managed to persuade the nurse to let her, sometimes her detective badge really was her best friend.

She hadn’t slept much; she didn’t want to miss Regina waking up and the sound of the nurses coming in and out of the room made it even harder for her to catch some shuteye.

She was sitting by Regina’s bedside now, her hand softly linked with Regina’s. The doctor had just come in and checked her and he said that it shouldn’t be too long until she wakes up. That had been about ten minutes ago now and the wait for Regina to awake was agonizing.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, her voice cracking upon the last word. She looked over at Regina who was still lying motionless on the bed; the only thing that gave her any comfort was the steady rhythm of her breathing.

She had been thinking about it all night and it still wouldn’t leave her head, what happened to Regina may not have entirely been her fault but if she had been more careful, more observant, then maybe Regina wouldn’t be here now, fighting for her life.

She squeezed Regina’s hand softly, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. “This shouldn’t have happened. I should’ve been able to stop her, to protect you from her.”

She looked at the ground, not wanting to have to see how helpless Zelena had left Regina. She could’ve prevented this and knowing that made all of this a million times worse.

“I’m so sorry, Regina.” She repeated again and this time she felt a small squeeze on her hand, “Regina?” She looked up frantically at Regina who was still very much asleep. She sighed, she must’ve imagined it. It wouldn’t be the first time that her mind had played tricks on her recently.

There was a knock at the door and instinctively Emma stood up, her arms outstretched as if to protect the sleeping woman behind her. The door opened slowly and David walked in closely followed by Ruby.

“Hey,” they said in unison and Emma took a relieved sigh and placed her hands on her hips glancing down at Regina one last time before she crossed the room to be beside her fellow detectives.

“How’s Regina doing?”

“Doctor said it won’t be long until she wakes up.”

“That’s good.”

“What happened with Zelena?” Emma asked, the sound of her name leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.

“She’s staying at Rampton Psych until the trial,” David said, Rampton was one of the most secure Psychiatric hospitals in the country so Regina needn’t worry about Zelena making any further contact with her.

Emma rolled her eyes upon hearing the news, “so she’s not in prison, fantastic.”

“You know full well that Rampton is probably stricter than prison, there’s no way she’s getting out of that place.” Ruby tried to reassure her, she knew that Emma would be disappointed with the decision but really, there was no other option for Zelena.

“I know, I know, just, she deserves to be in prison after what she did to Regina,” Emma glanced back over her shoulder to Regina; it pained her every single time that she saw her there.

Both Ruby and David followed Emma’s gaze, “I’m sure she will be after the trial.”

“Yeah, let’s hope so.”

“How are you doing? You look exhausted,” Ruby stated and rested her hand on Emma’s elbow while she took in the dark rings which had settled beneath Emma’s eyes.

“Thanks... I’m alright.” Emma shrugged off the concern and turned back to Ruby. “I just want Regina to wake up,” she smiled sadly, these past hours had possibly been the longest hours she had ever experienced.

“She’s a tough cookie, she’s gonna be okay,” David said with a confident smile, trying to boost Emma’s mood but it appeared to have little effect on the blonde’s sullen tone.

“How much trouble am I in for ditching protocol?”

Ruby bit her bottom lip, Gold certainly hadn’t been happy about that. “Gold’s holding an inquiry with the superintendent, he’s talked both of us through it and he said he’s gonna talk to you later.”

Emma groaned. “Shit, I’m sorry I got you guys into this as well.” The last thing she had wanted to do was get Ruby and David into any trouble, she’d be sure to tell Gold that it was her who had chosen to act against protocol and they had simply followed her lead.

“Don’t be stupid, you know we always have your back,” David shot her a supportive smile.

“And if back-up moved their asses then we wouldn’t even have had to break protocol.” Ruby rolled her eyes; this hadn’t been the first time that they had been left waiting for the other officers to provide them with support. “We did what we had to do and we caught Zelena and Regina’s gonna be okay, that’s the main thing.”

Emma smiled at her friends, if she were faced with that situation again then she would act the same way she had done every time; some things were more important than rules and orders. “Thanks guys, I’ll make sure to tell him it was on me anyway.”

“No chance, we’re in this together.” David looked between both Emma and Ruby, he’d worked with many cops in the past but this team was definitely his favorite, they were more like a family than work colleagues.

Ruby nodded eagerly, “What David said, we’re a team. Always have been, always will be.”

Emma smiled at them both and went in for the hug that David had already implemented with her.

“Now, get some rest. We’ll see you tomorrow for desk duty.”

“Fun...” Emma groaned and hugged Ruby once David had let her go. Desk duty was the chore that every cop hated but at least she’d have her team there alongside her.

* * *

 

Emma had been asleep for a couple of hours now; she had positioned the chair closer to Regina’s bed so she could sleep while still being close to her. Her head rested on the back of the uncomfortable chair and her hand was stretched out just enough to keep her fingers linked with Regina’s.

Regina had been awake for quite some time; the doctor had been in and given her a dose of medication which took away most of the pain that she was experiencing. He suggested waking Emma up but Regina had told him not to, if she knew Emma, which she did quite well now, then she knew that Emma was more than likely running on little sleep so she needed every minute of rest that she could get.

Emma began to stir and Regina squeezed her hand, a small smile painting her face as she watched Emma slowly wake up from her slumber. “Hi,” Regina whispered as she saw Emma’s eyes slowly open and take in her surroundings.

“You’re awake?” Emma croaked as she sat up in the chair, not being able to contain the delighted grin which attacked her face.  “Uh, how long have you been awake for? I can’t believe I missed you waking up.” She asked as she took in the details of Regina's injuries, the side of her face was covered with a freshly dressed bandage and there was another one which covered her head wound, she really hoped that it was one of those circumstances in which the injuries looked worse than they actually were. Still, the fact that Regna was awake and talking was definitely a step in the right direction.

Regina chuckled lightly as Emma not so gracefully wriggled around on the chair until she found a comfortable, upright position. “Not too long, I didn’t want to wake you.”

Emma cleared her throat, hoping the action would remove any tired residues that were still lingering. “How are you feeling?” She asked and glanced down at their linked hands with a small smile.

“I’m okay; I’ve got a lot of medication in my system.” She looked over to Emma who was now staring back at her with a glint of happiness in her eye. She worried her bottom lip between her teeth; not particularly wanting to bring up the subject which she had been avoiding thinking about since she had woken up. “What’s happened to Zelena?”

Emma’s smile suddenly dropped as she thought back to Zelena, the image of the redhead laughing irrationally at an unconscious Regina causing that familiar ball of anger to rise in her chest once again. “She’s under arrest. She’s currently being held in a Psychiatric hospital until the trial and then she’ll more than likely end up in prison. You won’t ever have to see her again though except at the trial but I'll be there for that, I promise.”

Regina took a deep breath to collect her thoughts, she was glad that Zelena was locked up and far, far away from her but she couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit of sympathy for her. “Do you know why she did all of this?”

“Because she’s obsessed with you?” Emma responded matter-of-factly.

Regina shook her head even though Emma was probably, partly correct. “My mother; she was so awful to her, Emma. Zelena’s my sister; my mum gave her up at birth and then did everything that she could to make her life a misery. What Zelena did, it was all because of my mother.”

“Woah,” Emma said quietly under her breath as she took in the surprise revelation. She knew there must’ve been a strong link between the two women but she never knew that the link would be quite as strong. She squeezed Regina’s hand gently once the shock had worn off and looked her in the eye. “Your mother's actions still don’t justify what Zelena did to you, nothing could. Zelena may have reasons to dislike you or whatever but what she did was insane. She was going to kill you.”

“I know, I know and I’m not saying that I would ever want to be alone in a room with her ever again but I understand why she may have lost her mind.” Regina sighed again, this whole situation was unbelievably sad. The fact that she had always wished for a sister whilst growing up only added salt to the wound.

Emma caught the glimpse of sadness in Regina’s eyes and she leaned forward slightly and placed a small, comforting kiss to Regina’s temple. “Well, you’re safe now, away from Zelena and away from any danger.”

Regina closed her eyes, embracing the closeness that she and Emma shared. She knew that if Emma hadn’t have been here all of this time then she would have more than likely been waking up alone. She slowly opened her eyes and took in the sight of Emma; tired, worried, and exhausted but still the most beautiful person she had ever seen. “I suppose I should thank you for saving my life.”

Emma could feel herself blushing under Regina’s intense gaze, her words alongside that blazing stare rendering her completely helpless in attempting to remain cool. “All in a day’s work.” She replied, the words falling out a lot quicker than she had intended them to. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get there before she did all this,” she added, a little quieter than before.

Regina looked at Emma with every ounce of honesty that she could muster, “you have nothing to be sorry for, Emma. You saved me and I’ll always be so grateful for that.” She kept her eye on Emma all the while she spoke and was thankful when she saw that tell-tale smile appear on her face.

The knock on the door startled both of them and they both turned to look into the direction of the opening door. DCI Robert Gold walked in, not seeming to be bothered by the look of dissatisfaction displayed on both Emma and Regina’s faces. “Detective Swan, I thought I’d find you here.”

“Yeah, I wanted to make sure Regina was okay.” She replied, she was still unsure about how much Gold really knew about her relationship with Regina and she sure as hell didn’t want to give too much away.

He nodded to Regina in acknowledgment, he hadn’t seen her in about five years but she still looked reasonably the same, despite the massive bandage which now sat on the side of her face. “Do you mind leaving me and Ms. Mills alone for a moment?”

Emma glared at him, she didn’t know why he wanted to be alone with Regina but she didn’t like it one bit.

Regina saw the resentment on Emma’s face, but, she too wanted to speak to Gold; she had some questions that she was hoping that he could answer. “It’s okay, Emma.” She said quietly with a small smile.

“I’ll be outside,” Emma sighed, if she was going to leave him alone with Regina then she’d make sure that she was nearby, just in case. She still didn’t fully trust him.

Once Emma had left the room Robert sat down in the chair which she had previously occupied. There was an awkward silence for a moment, neither one of them knowing what to say to the other.

Robert was the first to speak, “how are you feeling?” He asked, the generic opening that one gave to anybody in hospital seeming to be the best thing to open with.

“I’m feeling better, the medication is helping,” Regina answered; she could tell that he hadn’t come here just to see how she was doing.

“That’s good to hear.” He waited for a beat, there was still so many things he wanted to say to her which he should’ve said a long time ago; his absence at Cora’s funeral being something that he wanted to apologize for.

“Did you know about Zelena?” Regina asked before she had time to stop herself.

Gold shook his head, “no.” He looked at her with a smile which rendered sympathy and a little guilt. “Your Mother never told me about another child. I can assure you that if I did know about her then I would’ve mentioned it to DI Swan right away.”

Regina swallowed, he seemed sincere. “What was my mother like?”

“What do you mean?” He frowned slightly at the question, not fully understanding why Regina would ask him such a thing when she knew Cora a lot longer than he had.

“You loved her, didn’t you?” She asked to which Gold responded with a subtle nod of the head. “I only knew her as a stern, pretentious Mother. Zelena only knew her as a selfish monster. But you, what did you know her as?”

He waited for a moment, not knowing entirely how to word what he wanted to say. He knew that right now Cora would seem like the Anti-Christ to Regina. “Your Mother wasn’t all evil, Regina. One thing I know for certain is that she loved you. She was proud of you, she would talk about you every moment that she could.”

Regina gave him a small smile, finding it hard to believe that her mother did, in fact, love her.

“Vanity was perhaps her biggest flaw though. She cared what other people thought about her more than anything else. I suppose that’s why she saw Zelena to be such a problem, a threat to her position in society. What she did was unforgivable and she made a lot of mistakes in her life but believe me, you, you were her greatest joy. As to what I knew Cora as, I suppose I knew her as strong, defiant, headstrong woman and deep, deep down she did have a heart.” Gold reminisced for a moment upon the time that he had spent with Cora; those days seemed like a distant memory now.

“I can’t forgive her for what she did.” Regina looked away to keep herself from releasing the tears which had built up in her eyes. Zelena had hurt her physically but it had been what she had learned about her mother which seemed to hurt her a lot more. Her childhood had been a lie and her mother was far worse a woman that she had thought she was. “She knew how lonely I was growing up; I would’ve done anything for a sister. She tore Zelena away from me; I can never forgive her for that.”

Robert nodded understandingly, if he were in Regina’s position he too would harbor similar feelings as she did. “That’s understandable; I do not blame you for that.”

Regina was silent for a while before she looked back over to the man beside her. “One thing I do want to know is why you were always so standoffish with me; did I do something to offend you?”

Robert chuckled at that, standoffish was probably a more polite way of saying that he had acted like an asshole. “Not at all and I’m sorry if it came off that way. Your father was a good man; I didn’t want you to think that I was replacing him in any way.”

“Oh, I see.” She had never thought of that, in fact, she had always seen Gold to be quite villainous but in hindsight, he was just a man who had fallen for her mother. “Do you think that he knew about Zelena?”

“I had only met him a few times and he seemed honest and loving; I’m sure that if he knew of Zelena’s existence then he would’ve made things right.”

“I think so, too.” Regina smiled at that, her faith in her father was one thing that had never swayed.

He was glad that Regina seemed happy with the answer he had given, he glanced down at his watch; time was certainly getting on and he had a lot of work to be doing. “You should be resting, Regina. You’ve had a tough couple of days.”

“That’s an understatement.” Regina chuckled dryly.

Robert stood up and glanced back to Regina, “How about we go for a coffee some time? I can tell you some more stories about your mum. I know you won’t be able to forgive her but it might help you if you can begin to humanize her again.”

“I would like that.” Regina smiled and was about to lie down before a thought popped into her head. “One more thing, Emma won't be getting into any trouble for any of this, will she?" She asked him, she knew Emma must've taken the day off of work to be staying here with her, that alone probably didn't thrill Robert Gold.

Robert stiffened a little; discussing work with Regina was probably not the best idea, especially since he didn’t want to know quite how close Regina had gotten to Emma. “Yes, there is an investigation surrounding Detective’s Swan, Nolan, and Lucas and how they resolved the situation at the park.”

Regina remembered very little from that night, she didn't even remember seeing Ruby and David in the park and the only thing she could remember of Emma's involvement was the sound of her voice in her ear. “Can I ask you a favor?”

“Okay.”

“Be lenient with them, they saved my life. If they hadn’t have found me when they had then Zelena wouldn’t have stopped.”

“I’m aware. They’re all good cops, this is just a necessary task to complete but one thing I do know is that I don’t want to be losing any of them.” He smiled, he was always firm with his detectives but he was aware of their strengths, he was confident that he’d be able to keep them all together and this inquiry will end up being resolved sooner rather than later. “This chat stays between you and me though, okay?”

“Of course. Thank you, Robert.” Regina returned his smile, who knew Robert Gold was actually quite a nice man?

“Now, I should be dealing with DI Swan. Rest up, Regina and I’ll call you sometime for that coffee.” He said and turned to leave, sending her a passing nod as he reached the door.

Regina watched him leave, “goodbye Robert.” She turned on her ‘good’ side once he had left the room and fell into an easy sleep; she really did need to reserve her energy so she could get out of the hospital as soon as she possibly could.

* * *

 

A loud thud was heard as the thin mattress was hauled against the closed doors. The thud was followed by an anguished scream which just seemed to fade away amongst the many other cries for help which echoed through the walls of the hospital.

She threw herself against the wall and slid down it in defeat. There was no way out, she was stuck in here until further notice, Regina had won.

She had no idea what kind of state her sister was in, all she knew was that she wasn’t facing a murder charge which meant that Regina was still alive. She didn’t know how she felt about this. Sure, she wanted her dead but she wanted to be the one to see her die.

A part of her was still very much certain that she’d get another chance of killing her. People got out of these places all of the time, didn’t they?

All she had to do was sit out her sentence whether it be in this hospital or in prison, she still didn’t know. She’d be on her best behavior, convince everybody that she was no longer a threat to Regina and then she’d be out. It all seemed so simple and in her head it was.

She still had her partner on the outside who would hopefully be keeping watch. She scoffed; she didn’t even know if she could rely on him anymore. He could’ve easily fought off Emma Swan for her but he didn’t. Instead, he let her get locked up and he, well, he was probably sunning himself in Marbella right about now.

Maybe he would surprise her though. From next week she was allowed one visitor a week, she had given his details to one of the staff members who had informed her that they had sent him a visitor’s slip. If he turned up to see her then she could put Plan B into motion. She would just have to wait and see if he showed up, and she was extremely good at waiting…


	16. Home Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, unfortunately, this fic is coming to an end and I'm hoping to post the final chapter within the next few days. Thank you for all the feedback, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Also, there's smut at the end of this one, just a warning in case that's not your thing!

Six weeks later.

It had been six weeks since the incident with Zelena, Regina had returned home and her life was slowly returning to normal. Emma had made herself an almost permanent resident in her home and she found herself enjoying her company, in fact, she really did want Emma to stay with her for longer than her recovery needed her to.

Today was the day when she got to remove the last bandage from her face. She’d still be on medication for a few months but other than that she was almost as good as new. She stood in front of her bathroom mirror, slightly nervous about taking off the plaster. The large white piece of fabric which covered her cheek was a complete eyesore but it shielded her from seeing what damage hid underneath.

Cautiously she pulled at the side of the bandage and slowly peeled it off, a thick pink line revealing itself more and more with each tug that she made. She dropped the plaster into the sink and stared at her reflection in the mirror. The darkened wound instantly reminded her of that evening; she closed her eyes for a moment willing to rid herself of those unwanted recollections.

Slowly she opened her eyes once again and took a deep breath, it was over. She knew that Zelena couldn’t hurt her anymore and she needed to keep on reminding herself of that fact.

Emma was, supposedly unbeknownst to Regina, standing in the doorway watching on as Regina took in the damning scar which resided on her cheek. She knew that this was something that Regina needed to do alone but she wanted to be close by just in case she needed her.

She watched on as Regina lightly traced her index finger up and down the disfigurement. Scars would fade but she knew that for Regina, this was a whole lot more than just a physical mark.

“You do know I can see you in the reflection, don’t you?” Regina turned her head toward Emma and signaled for her to enter the bathroom.

“Sorry,” Emma responded feeling a little guilty that she had been caught. “I didn’t know if you wanted to be alone.” She slowly walked over to where Regina was standing trying to figure out how Regina was coping with all of this.

Regina tossed the remainder of the bandage into the bin beside the sink before turning to face Emma. “Be honest, how bad does it look?”

Emma gave her a sad smile, “It’s really not even that bad.” She replied honestly, the scar was visible but it by no means was the first thing that could be seen when you looked at her.

“It looks pretty awful to me.”

“I promise you, it’s not as bad as you think it is. It’s just the shock of it being there. And the doctor said it would fade in time.”

“Thank God for makeup, huh?” Regina looked back at her reflection in the mirror hoping that makeup would indeed be able to cover it.

Emma rested her hand on Regina’s arm and waited until she turned back around to face her before she spoke, “you don’t need makeup, trust me.” She leaned forward and brushed her lips gently against Regina’s.

Regina relished in the closeness Emma provided her with and for a split second she forgot about all of her worries. Her eye catching her reflection again, unfortunately, brought her back to her present and she let out a long sigh. “Do you think that I’ll think of her every time that I look in the mirror?”

“Maybe for a little while but then one day you’ll look in the mirror and instead of seeing the bad things you’ll start seeing the good things and once you’ve made that change you’ll rarely think of her again.” Emma cupped Regina’s cheek and ran her thumb softly over her scar, she wished more than anything that she could take away all of her pain.

Regina closed her eyes, holding on to the words that Emma had spoken. She could feel herself instantly begin to relax a little simply from Emma’s embracing touch. She pulled away once she was feeling better and smiled softly. “We should really put that tree up; it’s not long until Christmas now.” She smiled a little wider when she saw the excitement in Emma’s eyes, this Christmas may not be her happiest one but it certainly wouldn’t be her loneliest one.

* * *

 

Days seemed to pass by slowly for her. Each day consisting of the same mundane routine as the last, if people weren’t crazy before then this place would certainly make them so.

The only positive aspect of residing there was that it gave Zelena a lot of time to think and of course Regina was often at the forefront of those thoughts. She sat by the small barred window in her room listening to the rain hammering down outside of it. She missed being able to go outside whenever she wanted, the rules in here were so rigorous that it meant that she rarely got to experience the outside world anymore.

She closed her eyes and pictured Regina in her mind. She wondered what it was that she was doing now. Maybe she was still in hospital? Maybe she was at home? Was she alone? Was she still afraid to look out of her window like she had been in the days leading up to their meeting? It was killing her not knowing.  

It was visiting day again tomorrow and she hoped that he’d actually show up this time. For weeks she had found herself sitting in the visitor’s room, alone at her table with nothing but an empty chair to keep her company. It was humiliating and if she wasn’t so desperate to know what was happening with Regina then she would have given up on him by now.

Tomorrow was his last chance, he had promised this time. He had spoken to her on the phone and said that he was busy at work. She knew that ‘work’ was a code for their plan. The nurses listened to everything and she hoped that they wouldn’t have caught on to their thinly veiled code words; that exact reason was why she needed to see him in person.

* * *

 

Emma checked her cell phone one last time before switching it off for the evening. Work seemed to be slow lately and for once she was happy about that, it meant she got to spend more time with Regina and she got to play a more hands-on part in her recovery. Gold had cleared herself, Ruby and David and they were officially off the hook for any misdoings that may have occurred on that night at the park.

She and Regina had been curled up on the couch for about a half hour now, Regina was glancing at a novel and Emma had been playing a game on her phone. Emma occasionally spared a few glances over at Regina; she had been watching her extra closely since earlier that morning when she had removed her bandages. She had been particularly quiet that night and Emma could sense that something was playing on her mind.

She placed her phone on the table in front of them before turning herself to face Regina, “hey, is everything okay?”

Regina had been re-reading the same page for about five minutes and still had not taken in anything which was written on the page. She glanced up at the sound of Emma’s voice and closed her book placing in on the table alongside Emma’s phone. “I’m fine, why would you ask?”

Emma raised an eyebrow, not fully believing Regina’s dismissive answer. “You sure about that?”

Regina rested the side of her head against Emma’s arm which had been wrapped around her shoulder ever since they had sat down. “I’ve been thinking about Zelena,” she whispered the name of the woman, still not feeling completely comfortable about saying it out loud.

Emma sent Regina an encouraging smile signaling for her to carry on with what she was about to say. Honestly, she had been expecting Regina to bring up the topic of her half-sister at some point; it was only natural for her to be thinking about her.

Regina raised her head slightly, still unsure whether she wanted to talk about it. She looked into Emma’s eyes; if she were going to talk to anyone it would be Emma. “What’s it like where she is now?”

“It’s a secure hospital. She’ll get the help she needs there and she’ll no longer be able to cause you any harm.” Emma had only visited that particular hospital once but from what she had seen it ran a pretty tight ship.

Regina nodded and a wistful sadness took over for a brief moment, “I hope that she gets the help that she needs. I keep thinking what it would have been like if my mother had kept her, I wonder how she would have turned out. We would have been close, I’m sure.”

Emma couldn’t even begin to imagine how Regina was feeling, if she found out what Regina had then she knew that she would be majorly freaking out about it. She had to admire Regina in how calm she was being in the situation. “I’m sorry that you never really got a chance to bond with her like that.”

“I wish my mother were here to explain herself.” Regina’s face contorted into a frown, she was still angry with her mother and she probably would be for quite some time.

“I’m sure she had her own reasons as to why she did what she did.”

There was a short silence in the room before Regina shuffled slightly on the couch, making sure that she was as close to Emma as she possibly could be. “I want Zelena to know that I really had no idea about her existence. Do you think I should write her a letter?”

Emma shook her head immediately, she didn’t know exactly what Zelena had been diagnosed with but she did know that she was obsessed with Regina. “It’s probably best if you don’t contact her, she’s probably still a little ‘single white female’ about you right now.”

Regina maintained from rolling her eyes at Emma’s movie reference but understood where she was coming from. “You’re right; contacting her is probably a bad idea.”

“I get why you would want to though, maybe give it a while.” Emma shrugged, hoping that Zelena would recover at some point if only for Regina’s sake. She knew Regina had very little living family members left so forming a bond with a sister she never knew she had would probably seem like something Regina would want to do, however, that sister was slightly unhinged and thoroughly dangerous.

Regina sighed, it felt good to get some of her feelings out in the open and Emma had been supportive, as she knew she would. She leaned her head on Emma’s shoulder, “thank you,” she murmured in little more than a whisper.

“You’re welcome?” Emma questioned with a chuckle, unsure of what it was exactly Regina was thanking her for.

Regina smiled to herself and then raised her head so she could look at Emma. “I mean for everything, you’ve done so much for me these past few months.”

The glassiness in Regina’s eyes touched Emma even more than the words that she had just spoken. “Hey, don’t even mention it. Seriously, it’s cool.” She smiled and grazed her lips over Regina’s.

“Stay with me tonight?” She had wanted to ask that question so many times in the past few weeks yet only now had it felt like the perfect moment.

“Of course,” Emma replied and for once there was nothing stopping her from spending the night with Regina. There were no more rules, no more protocols, and no more case. She could finally act on what her heart was telling her and not her head and she knew that she wasn’t going to be regretting that decision.

Neither Regina nor Emma had discussed the topic of intimacy despite it always seeming to linger in the air whenever they were alone together. They had quickly made their way upstairs and were now sitting on the edge of Regina’s bed, both feeling strangely nervous.

Regina made the first move and she pulled Emma closer to her, her hands weaving through Emma’s long locks while her lips captured hers in a hungry kiss. She had wanted Emma for so long; the connection she felt to her was one she had never felt before with anybody else.

She slid her hand beneath Emma’s jumper and it traveled over the expanse of her torso embracing her toned stomach muscles and relishing in the smoothness of her skin.

She broke the kiss only to remove Emma’s sweater and then her own one, she could sense the hesitation in Emma and so she cupped her cheek with her palm. “I want this, I want you.” She whispered and guided her hand down to where Emma’s was. She placed Emma’s hand onto her breast and left it there, her whole body yearning for more of Emma’s touch.

There was nothing Emma wanted more than Regina but she knew what she had been through and she didn’t want to push her into anything that she wasn’t ready for. Regina sure seemed ready though and she squeezed the soft flesh in her palm and was greeted by a hard nipple straining to escape from her lace bra.

When Regina could sense that Emma was loosening up she smiled and kissed her again, this time she placed her hands firmly on Emma’s hips, the denim of her jeans getting in the way entirely. She fumbled with the tight fabric and Emma laughed before taking them off herself and discarding them on the floor.

Regina stood and pulled Emma up with her, she quickly removed her skirt and underwear before reaching around to unclasp her bra. Emma simply watched her with a dry mouth before following suit and removing her own underwear.

Emma made the first move this time and she walked forward, her arms wrapping around Regina’s waist, she kissed her heatedly and somehow they both managed to fall onto the bed in perfect unison.

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Emma whispered between kisses, her hands coming to a sudden halt before they journeyed any lower.

Regina nodded, not thinking of anything else she would rather do. She leaned forward and kissed Emma, her lips eager and demanding. “I’m ready,” she hummed, a confident glint in her eye as she once again pulled Emma in for a passionate kiss.

Emma’s hand traveled lower, her left one finding Regina’s nipple and tweaking it between her thumb and forefinger. Her right hand hovered between her thighs and Regina bucked her hips hungrily urging Emma to touch her where she needed her the most.

Gently she rubbed two fingers against her clit and Regina moaned into her mouth, the sound itself being so enthralling that it made her release a moan of her own.

Emma nibbled on Regina’s bottom lip before sending a trail of kisses down to her neck and sucking passionately on her pulse point. She moved her fingers down to her entrance and slowly entered her resulting in another moan eliciting from Regina.

Regina closed her eyes, her breathing heavy and her heartbeat racing, she rolled her hips in time with Emma’s thrusting and moaned each time that Emma reached her favorite spot.

Emma rubbed her thumb over Regina’s clit and a gasp escaped from her. She quickened her rhythm, knowing that Regina was close. She sucked harder on Regina’s neck and soothed her skin with the flat of her tongue. Everything felt so good and each sensation was so heightened to almost the point of disbelief. She pressed her thumb down hard against her clit and was met with a loud scream of ecstasy.

“Emma!” Regina cried as she felt all of her walls tear down, her hips gyrating enthusiastically against Emma’s hand. She took a moment to steady her breathing before pulling Emma on top of her and into a deep kiss, their tongues meeting at once and dueling against one another in a blistering tango.

Regina rolled over and managed to turn their positions around so that she was on top of Emma. She dragged her mouth away from hers leaving Emma with a pout which went away as soon as she saw where Regina’s mouth was heading.

Regina placed a hand on Emma’s breast and toyed with her nipple, squeezing and pinching while her head lowered towards her thighs. She kissed the smooth skin of her legs paying special attention to the inside of her thighs. She could see how ready Emma was for her and she couldn’t help but lick her lips in anticipation.

Emma threaded her fingers through Regina’s hair, her other hand gripping the bed sheets, her grip tightening every time that Regina’s lips made even the slightest of movement. “R’gina,” she breathed, she needed her so badly.

Regina raised her head slightly and slowly slid her tongue over Emma’s opening. Emma moaned instantaneously and she started up a quicker pace. Her tongue swiping over her and dipping inside, she lowered her other hand and rubbed her clit creating a steady pace which seemed to drive Emma crazy.

She twirled her tongue around wanting to taste every single crevice of Emma that she possibly could; she tasted even better than she had imagined. Her fingers picked up more speed causing a pleasurable friction upon Emma’s clit which resulted in the rise of her hips. Regina made the most of this and buried her face even deeper into her, her tongue swirling and exploring every new part of her that she found.

Emma’s hips were bucking wildly, Regina’s tongue darting in and out of her causing her head to spin. “Regina, oh my god!” She shouted as she came harder than she ever had before.

Regina took in everything that Emma offered her and languidly crawled back up to the head of the bed. She was greeted with a kiss from Emma, “wow,” was all she could say.

Emma smirked before getting under the covers and snuggling up beside Regina. There was something about all of this that just felt so right.

Regina smiled, there was a time when she thought that she would never be able to feel safe ever again but lying here, wrapped tightly in Emma’s arms and hearing the gentle hum of her breathing, right here she felt safe and right here was where she wanted to stay for the rest of her life.


	17. Epilogue

The dank and dreary walls of the institute screamed misery. It was louder inside than he thought it was going to be, desperate cries and screaming demands echoed around every corner. The smell of bleach was constantly lingering in the stagnant air.

He had been putting off visiting for quite some time; he was never fond of hospitals let alone psychiatric ones. He was afraid that Zelena was going to be angry and she was at first. The first phone call he received from her was basically just of her screaming down the phone at him until the hospital cut her off.

She seemed to calm down by the third call though and she had instructed him to ‘keep watching’, that was all she had said but it was clear what she meant by that and he had done what she had instructed. He would make sure to walk past the police station on his way home from work and often he would visit the park just so he could keep an eye on Regina’s house. He wasn’t too intrusive just yet though, he needed to speak to Zelena properly before he allowed himself to get too involved.

He noticed her as soon as she walked in, her hair stood out from the other patients and she instantly made a beeline towards him as if she knew exactly where he’d be sitting. As she approached he could tell that there was something different about her. Her eyes, that devious passion that used to reside in them was gone and in its place was a vacant void of emotion.

“You showed up then?” She said with a bitterness in her voice, the kind that could only be heard upon years of being let down.

He nodded once and waited for her to sit down before he made any attempt to speak. “What can I say? They’ve been keeping me busy.”

“Regina,” she hissed, leaning her head closer to him so that nobody had any chance of overhearing them. “Tell me about Regina.”

Of course, she was straight to the point, what else had he expected, salutations? He leaned forward, following her lead; he knew how much trouble both of them would get in if anyone overheard them. “She’s back at home now, recovering quite nicely although you did leave a nice scar on her face.”

Zelena took a moment to take in the information, she hadn’t decided whether to be pleased with this news or not. It meant that she could get another shot at getting her revenge on Regina however it also meant that her first attempt had failed. “Is she alone? What about that Swan bitch?” A flicker of anger resided in her eyes as she remembered how Emma had gotten the better of her.

“She’s been spending a lot of time at the house. They were putting up Christmas lights yesterday…”

His words were cut off by the abrupt thump of Zelena’s fist colliding with the table in front of them and a warning call was shouted at her from one of the nurses. Zelena dug her fingernails into her fist and took a calming breath, “you need to get rid of her.”

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, “and how do you suppose I do that, love?”

She rolled her eyes, “use your imagination. All I care about is that she is away from Regina.”

He smirked, pleased that Zelena had given him such a big role in her future plans. “Lucky that she’s just my type then, ain’t it?”

Zelena grimaced; she really didn’t want to know what he had in mind for Emma Swan. “Just don’t touch Regina, she’s all mine.”

“If you say so,” he nodded and took a sweeping glance around the room before leaning in even closer. “But how do you think you’re going to get to Regina when you’re stuck in here, huh?”

“I was hoping you could help me with that, remember that plan I told you about before I got caught?”

“The one you said that we’d never have to use because you’d never get caught?” He raised an eyebrow as if trying to intentionally wind her up.

“Shut up.” She sniped and folded her arms across her chest. “Yeah, that one. We’re gonna use it.” She smiled then, pleased that she had a plan for pretty much everything that life threw at her; Regina may be safe now but she won’t be for much longer.

“I best make sure I get everything prepared then.” He said and already he was thinking of all the things he would need to prepare for her, for them.

She beamed; knowing that he was going to help her was the best thing she had heard in weeks. Her joy was cut short by the bell that chimed loudly in the room signaling that visiting time was over until another week.

She watched him stand up, a wide grin of his own matching hers, “Oh and Killian?”

He put his hands in the pockets of his black leather jacket, his eyebrow quirked waiting to hear what it was that she was going to ask of him. “Yeah?”

“Make sure you keep watching them for me, okay?” She said sweetly, knowing that using that tone of voice would make him do anything that she wanted.

He quickly leaned forward and kissed her temple earning him a telling off from the nurse who was swiftly making her way over to Zelena, “Will do, love, will do.” He gave her one last confident grin before turning around and leaving, all she could do now was trust that he would stand by her.

She continued watching him until he had left the room and then the nurse began tugging at her wrist and dragging her down the corridor back to her own room. She had to focus on the trial now, she needed to make sure that she got out of this place if she didn’t then their plan wouldn’t work and she’d be damned if she ruined her own plan.

She needed to think of Regina, she was happy now, living the life which she should have been living. That thought would be the thing that would help her through her time here, this slight bump in the road would be nothing when she finally got her revenge on her and she knew it would be worth it. And by this time next year, it would be her living in that big old house, trimming that big old apple tree, she’d finally be living the life that her mother had cruelly taken from her. She would finally be the perfect Mills daughter.        

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe I've reached the end of this story already! Firstly I want to say thank you to everybody who's read, kudosed, bookmarked and commented on this fic, it really means a lot to me that you've enjoyed it as much as I have!
> 
> Secondly, I'm sorry that I ended it on a bit of a cliffhanger but I will definitely be writing a sequel, in fact, I've already got the whole plot planned out and I expect I'll begin writing it very soon! 
> 
> Let me know if you have any questions about this fic or the sequel, I'd love to hear some of your thoughts! If any of you guys have tumblr then feel free to chat with me on there too, my username is cryingoversq ... Thanks again for reading!


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